I don't want to pay extra for audiobooks, what are my options

[rfrink]

Plan

Premium

Country

US

Device

Pixel 7 pro

Operating System

Android latest

My Question or Issue

Prices are going up for premium because of audiobooks. I don't want audiobooks, I will never want them, and I don't want and never will want podcasts on spotify. I only want Spotify for music. What are my options? I don't want to pay more money for more features I will never use. How do i opt-out and pay less money?

I don't have any faith that my concerns will be heard, but please Spotify please give people better options.

[Susan_GP]

Hi there @rfrink,

Thanks for your post here in the Community and welcome!

Audiobooks are one of our most recent additions to Spotify. They're only available in some regions and for certain subscriptions. This means the price and subscriptions are constantly being updated as we look for better options for everyone. Right now, in the US, users in selected subscriptions get 15 hours of listening time for Audiobooks each month. Once those hours are up, they can buy more listening time or wait until next month for another 15 hours. You can learn more about Audiobooks in Premium here.

Currently, you pay more when you decide to buy extra listening time or buy a specific Audiobook. If you're looking for a different subscription, you can check the different ones we have available here. We have discount plans (Premium Family and Premium Duo) for 2 to 6 users who live together.

Now, thanks for letting us know about this. We always aim to improve, so we’ll pass your comments on to the right team.

If you have any questions or need anything else, the Community is here for you.
 

[rfrink]

Are there ever going to be any subscriptions where I can pay less than the current premium price and only get music? I will never ever want audiobooks or podcasts. I don't want to see audiobooks on the app, I don't want "15 hours of free listening time for audiobooks", and I don't want to see podcasts. I just want music and don't want to have it all bundled together, could you please see if there is an option for me or if there might ever be an option for me?

[rfrink]

There is a subscription now that costs $1 less and makes it so you no longer have audiobook access, thank you spotify for not forcing me to pay for something i don't want 🙂

[crimsoncuda]

I just canceled my long-time Family account because there’s currently no option to not pay for audiobooks/podcasts. Spotify decided to go all in on Joe Rogan and Audible and now they want me to pay for it? Nope! So many other options out there to choose from. 

[Nobodyeversaid]

“This means the price and subscriptions are constantly being updated as we look for better options for everyone”

care to elaborate on this?

We are asking if we can pay by opting out of a service we don’t want to receive from Spotify. 
audiobooks rollout is really poorly done, and deserves to be criticized.

- family accounts can’t share hours,

- relistening counts against minutes (no other service does this afaik, sounds really aggressive imho)

- presented like a free upgrade and followed by price hike of 22% a few months later.

I am seriously considering to take my money elsewhere. Thought you’d should know

ps: did more research myself to find out there is Family basic, at the old price, without the audiobooks. So I can go full circle, pay what I used to pay, just feel a lot less respected as a loyal paying customer. Thanks Spotify!

[rexxy2007]

I'm sure nothing you've written here is incorrect. But it really does nothing to address the concerns of subscribers who don't want to pay for audiobooks or podcasts. 

When do other regions get the option of a basic subscription just for music?