Spotify taps into romantasy craze for audiobook push
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Ariel Sullivan, Alex Aster and Selena Samuela at Spotify's The Forbid-Inn event. Photo: HAPPYMONDAY for Spotify
Spotify is leaning into the fandom around romantasy novels to promote itself as a platform for audiobooks.
Why it matters: The genre has surged in popularity, driven in part by #BookTok, and is expected to keep climbing as more books and Hollywood adaptations are released.
- Spotify said romance and fantasy both consistently rank in the top five for audiobook genres on the platform and listeners also engage with themed music by streaming more than 392,000 hours of user-generated romantasy playlists.
- "We have just seen such tremendous excitement and growth for this genre on Spotify," Rebecca McGuire, Spotify's associate director of partnerships and licensing team for audiobooks, tells Axios. "There's no signs of it ever slowing down really."
Driving the news: This week, Spotify hosted a two-day event called The Forbid-Inn at The Bowery Hotel in New York — Spotify's top U.S. city for romance and fantasy listening. An expected 1,400 attendees could participate in activities like tarot card readings and fantasy-themed temporary tattoos.
- The event also featured fireside chats with authors, including Alex Aster, Ariel Sullivan, Jasmin Mas and Sable Sorensen.
- McGuire said it was "amazing" to see attendees with faux elf ears and real bat tattoos and overhear chatter of forming book clubs and exchanging phone numbers.
Zoom in: Audiobooks have helped the rise of romantasy.
- "I find the magic in audiobooks being a busy mom is that I can listen ... while I'm on the go, whether I'm working out or meal prepping," said Selena Samuela, a fitness instructor with Peloton and book club host who moderated the conversation.
- The explosive interest in romantasy aligns with a desire for escapism, said Sullivan, whose debut novel "Conform" publishes in October.
- "You get to close out of whatever happened in your day or what's happening in the world, and it takes you on an adventure," Sullivan said onstage. "I think it also lets you kind of be a kid in some ways, like all the stuff we used to read when we were growing up."
My thought bubble: As a childhood fan of "Eragon" and "The Lord of the Rings," I love that I'm again enjoying reading about dragons with Rebecca Yarros' The Empyrean Series and elves with Sarah J. Maas' universe.
Zoom out: Spotify's event comes ahead of its two-year anniversary of launching audiobooks as a perk for Premium subscribers.
- CEO Daniel Ek previously told Axios audiobook engagement usage has been "phenomenal" and a "healthy indicator" of the lifetime value of a Spotify subscription.
- As Spotify competes for audiobook market share with Amazon's Audible, it's embracing live events and creative ads like it has for music. Spotify's new campaign called "Read Like They Listen" includes copy like "Stephen King just dropped a 14hr banger."
What to watch: Earlier this month, Spotify launched Audiobooks+ as an add-on subscription for more listening hours. It's also testing a feature called Follow Along that offers visuals and music for audiobooks.
