Free audiobook listening time for all Premium members

[SamBuzz]

While I'm grateful for the move to bring audiobooks to Spotify, the exclusive benefit of free audiobooks for the "plan manager" in duo and family memberships seems unjust. It diminishes the premium experience for other members who pay the same amount as their friends and family but don't enjoy the full premium benefits. 

I acknowledge the cost-effectiveness of duo and family memberships, but the solution to a fairer listening experience could be to distribute the 15 hours among all members in your party. This way, duo members, for instance, would get 7.5 hours free—a reasonable compromise for the reduced cost.

It ensures fairness to all users and gives users the option to customise their audiobook time based on their plan size and budget.

[captain_geek]

Is there any way to get an answer as to why this is the case?

[ianhemm]

I wished I could give you a positive answer to your question but I have seen no update, feedback or even an acknowledgement that they have heard their subscribers voices, it has been radio silence since I originally posted which is disappointing from a brand experience perspective

[kennedayyy]

Same with family plan. Why are we paying for a premium service that only one family member can access?

[Dombobb]

Completely agree. £20 already feels extortionate for a family account, I don’t think access for all to audiobooks is too much to ask. I’m literally already paying the maximum amount for a subscription so members should be able to use their accounts however they please. 

[11164150421]

I used to be a Duo account holder who recently upgraded to Family. 

I've noticed that my partner, the family member in question doesn't seem to have access to the audiobook library.

Could you please advise on the following:

1. If audiobook access is automatically included in the Spotify Family plan, why is it limited to only the manager?
2. If not, is there a way to add this feature for other family members?
3. Are there any additional costs associated with enabling audiobooks for family members?
4. If it's possible to enable this feature, could you please guide me through the process?

[m12cotana]

Very disappointed to find that only the Plan Manager has access to the premium benefits of a Premium DUO plan. I upgraded today and added my partner to the account (who is an avid audiobook listener), only to be disappointed by Spotify's worsening greed. Luckily, we found that the "Libby" app allows us to listen to audiobooks for FREE from our public library. If nothing changes, we'll definitely be reducing or canceling our Spotify subscription before EOY.

[Truhgoy]

Hey Spotify! When it comes to audiobooks, the Duo plan is a ‘pay more, get less’ option. Currently, the Duo account manager gets only 12 hours monthly, and the secondary user has none, versus 15 hours for single-user accounts. Once I realised this, I cancelled my Duo plan. 

[EQDj]

I submitted a similar comment on the Spotify Facebook channel and a year has passed without any action on this matter. It doesn’t make sense that all the member of a premium plan cannot listen to audiobooks not even with the manager of the account pays extra (Top-ups). The only option would be to break the family plan and have individual subscriptions.

[Paradgmshft]

I agree with every comment here. I just updated my account from premium to premium duo so my wife could use Spotify for audiobooks. She did not previously use Spotify as she doesn't listen to a lot of music regularly. This was a way for Spotify to make more money. Now, I've paid for Duo for a month and it will go unused. I will immediately change back to a single premium account, 24 hours after changing to Duo. As a long time customer, this is a ding against Spotify for a seemingly simple and commonsense feature. My frustration. Your loss. Remember...it's much more expensive to find a new customer than it is to retain an existing one... You haven't lost me....yet, but you lost the Duo membership within 24 hours of me adding it to my account. 

[MS37448]

Good afternoon Paradgmshft

Thank you for joining the conversation.
It seems to me that Spotify are either not bothered about this issue or the company does not worry about losing loyal customers.