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.

[Listen2sixtyfivedos]

Why THE F--- does only the manager get access to audiobooks? Audiobooks could potentially be a huge advantage to Spotify. But if you are losing half of your paying listener base to Amazon/Audible, purely because you don't give audiobooks credits to the other half of a 'duo' or other members of a 'family' account, you're losing attention and listeners. I don't understand the value of this. Where is the equality in this? Change it. Give audiobook access to all subscribers - all members of the 'plans'. Stop the needless herring of one person over the other.

[mackjo]

I agree that this is complete insanity... prices keep raising every year and yet their audiobook function makes no sense at all. Why would both members not be able to access audiobooks? The obvious answer is that they're trying to squeeze as much money out of us as possible. On top of this the 15 hour limit on audio books also makes no sense. Why don't they create separate plans or a slight additional cost that can be added on for those that want unlimited audiobook hours (or audio books at all). 

This would also solve the partner/ family membership issue. Charge the standard fee for spotify without audiobooks, and then an additional $2-$3/ per person for audiobook access. 

[gofurself]

Let audiobook hours be shared across family plans. Also while you are at it, make it 25 hours a month because individual users paying $13.99 get 15 too so family plan at $23.99 should get more.

Currently only top-up hours purchased on top of the subscription can be shared - scummy move Spotify

[Michelerex]

This is honestly ridiculous. I have been a power user of spotify for 12 years and my dad cannot listen to audiobooks because he is not the plan manager. Are you guys serious ? For a company lime Spotify, I would expect something so trivial to work. 
First, it’s unbelievable to me that only the manager of the subscription can listen to audiobooks.

Then, I find ridiculous that we cannot change the plan manager. It’s a 1 hour dev work. Seriously ?

[geophphrie]

Just another vote for making it so all users can share the audiobook allowance and/or adding flexibility to the family management (e.g. to change managers). I can understand these features not being part of the "minimum viable product" at release time, but we've had Spotify Family for years now, eh?

[ShadyDuckies]

Dear Spotify Team,

I am writing to express my frustration with the current limitations surrounding audiobook access for Premium subscribers. I recently encountered an issue where, after reaching my allotted 15 hours of listening, I am unable to continue with a book series I had started, which is particularly disappointing. To make matters worse, I noticed that the audiobooks I wish to continue listening to are being offered for a one-time discounted purchase on the web player, yet this option is only available to non-Premium members.

As a Premium subscriber, my only recourse appears to be purchasing additional hours which is not a permanent addition or waiting for the next pay cycle. If I understand correctly, this means I must ration my audiobook listening time over the course of a month, effectively limiting me to approximately 30 minutes per day. This is far from the premium experience I expected when subscribing to your service. It seems counterproductive that non-Premium users have access to discounted permanent purchases, while Premium members are subjected to such restrictions. I do appreciate the idea of giving a limited amount of free hours for books in a catalogue to listen to, as it incentivizes users to explore books they may not have considered if they were required to pay upfront. This model provides a good opportunity for listeners to discover books they enjoy and, if desired, purchase the full book to continue uninterrupted, especially since most audiobooks take more than 15 hours to complete.

Lastly, I find it puzzling that Spotify, as a company aiming to compete with other streaming services like Apple Music, has yet to offer a seamless and comprehensive solution for audiobooks, music, and podcasts in a way that feels consistent and premium. For those of us who are loyal users and are willing to pay for an enhanced experience, it is disheartening to encounter these limitations.

I would appreciate further clarification on these policies and hope that Spotify will consider revisiting its audiobook offering for Premium users to create a more user-friendly and premium experience moving forward.

[wavesnparticles]

The hours restriction is already too tight and the audiobook pricing model is off.  Make it 15 hours per user in a family plan.  

Audiobook listening time should definitely be included for all members of a premium plan. Not having this feature is a good push to leave the platform and find a new streaming service.  

[gmayo]

Hi There,

We pay for Premium Family plan, and just noticed that the free Audio Book hours are limited to the plan manager, rather than accessible to all members.

This is silly, as peronally I don't listen to ausio books, but my partner does, and to then pay extra for that does not make sense.

Please include the feature to share the default 15 hours included in the plan with anyone in the member group.

Regards,

Gaby

[gmayo]

100% Agree on this, and we just hit the same issue. Have been a Premium Family subscriber for many years, and my wife would like to listen to Audiobooks on the platform. The fact that we have to pay more for her, rather than just share or allocate the "plan manager" hours, is totally silly.

[CajunSparklz]

Spotify premium only lets family plan managers access audiobooks currently. With how much spotify premium is, everyone in the family should definitely have access to all the same things.