Trending 
Spotify is expanding its audiobook service to more than 180 markets by the end of 2026, widening access from the 22 markets currently covered as demand for audiobooks continues to grow.
The streaming company announced the expansion on Wednesday at the Frankfurt Book Fair, where it also released data showing a 40 percent year-on-year increase in the number of monthly audiobook listeners on its platform.
Listening hours have also risen by more than 30 per cent over the same period, according to Spotify.
Read More : Kagan, Soai Win Nobel Chemistry Prize
The company said users in more than 180 markets will eventually have access to over 350,000 audiobook titles, with catalogues available in more than 120 languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Polish.
Spotify also plans to expand its Page Match feature, which allows users to move between print or digital versions of a book and its audiobook counterpart.
The updated feature will allow users to scan a book’s ISBN code and track their audiobook progress according to the corresponding page number.
Launched in February, the feature has already been used by more than one million people, according to Spotify which in June 2022 identified audiobooks as a major growth area.
Read More : Seven Wounded in Poland School Stabbing
Months later, it launched its service in the United States, offering some 300,000 titles for purchase.
Spotify now says its platform carries more than 800,000 audiobooks from nearly 300 publishers and over 50,000 authors.
The growing popularity of audiobooks has also been reflected in listening trends around major film releases. Spotify said the release of Christopher Nolan’s film The Odyssey drove a 752 per cent increase in daily listening hours for Homer’s The Odyssey in France.
