Audible sets a low-cost ‘Standard’ plan, challenging Spotify

Amazon is releasing a low-cost “Standard” subscription plan that costs $8.99 per month. he announced the second. The new plan is $6 cheaper than the existing “Premium” plan, which costs $14.95 per month.

The standard plan includes one audio book per month from Audible books and unlimited listening from a curated library that includes a selection of Audible Basics.

Under the new subscription plan, subscribers will lose access to audiobooks they used when they unsubscribe. The Premium plan allows users to save the audiobooks they listen to even after they stop recording.

The Standard plan also includes access to nearly 200 of the most popular titles available on Amazing + app, who to close in the coming months.

A permanent system is being implemented in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany, and France. Sound is testing the system in additional markets, the company says.

The launch of the new subscription plans comes as Audible faces growing competition from Spotify, which launched audiobooks in 2022 and has integrated the genre with music and podcasts as part of its subscription.

Spotify said last October that the number of users listening to audiobooks increased by 36%. last year, and listening hours increased 37%. Additionally, it noted that more than half of Spotify’s 281 million subscribers have engaged in an audiobook.

Spotify soon they got expensive of its monthly subscription plan for the third time in three years, which could open the door to competitors like Sound.

“By expanding our membership options, we’re expanding access to light listeners while helping publishers and producers reach new audiences — a win that expands the entire audiobook community,” said Cynthia Chu, Chief Financial & Growth Officer at Audible, in a press release.

Audible says that early testing of the new system showed strong uptake of members and bookings, as tests in the United Kingdom and Australia showed that the system increased the number of new member registrations by double digits compared to previous offerings. With its expansion into new markets, the Standard plan is expected to bring in millions of new customers, the company says.