Through a partnership with Bookshop, Spotify will allow users to purchase physical books on the app

Spotify Expands Beyond Audiobooks, to Sell Physical Books via Bookshop.org Partnership

Spotify is stepping further beyond audio streaming and into physical retail, announcing plans to sell printed books directly through its platform in partnership with online retailer Bookshop.org.

The move marks an unexpected expansion for the music and podcast giant, which has been aggressively building out its audiobooks business to better compete with rivals such as Apple and Amazon.

From listening to reading

The new physical book purchasing feature will begin rolling out later this spring for users in the U.S. and the UK.

Under the partnership, Bookshop.org will manage pricing, inventory, and order fulfillment, while Spotify provides discovery and purchase access within its app.

Spotify said the initiative complements its fast-growing audiobook segment, which launched two years ago.

• Audiobooks now available in 22 global markets

• English-language catalog exceeds 500,000 titles

• New listeners up 36%

• Listening hours up 37%

Introducing “Page Match”

Alongside book sales, Spotify is launching Page Match, a tool designed to blur the line between reading and listening.

The feature allows users to:

• Scan a page from a physical or e-book using the Spotify app

• Instantly jump to the matching moment in the audiobook

• Resume reading later by scanning again

Page Match will be available at launch for most English-language titles and is expected to roll out fully to all audiobook users by February 23.

Challenging market timing

Spotify’s push into physical books comes as print sales slow, with readers increasingly shifting to e-books and digital formats.

Publishers have reported weaker orders from both retailers and consumers, and longtime distributor Baker & Taylor shut down operations earlier this year, underscoring the sector’s challenges.

Still, Spotify appears to be betting that integrated discovery + audio + physical formats can create a differentiated ecosystem for readers and listeners.

Price hike

Separately, Spotify has raised the price of its monthly premium subscription by $1 to $12.99 in the U.S., Estonia, and Latvia.

With books now joining music, podcasts, and audiobooks, Spotify is positioning itself less as a streaming app — and more as a full-fledged content marketplace.