In its continuing efforts to broaden its library of non-music programming, on Monday (January 25th), Spotify released a small collection of exclusive audiobook recordings.
The streaming music giant’s latest move is one of many tests that the company regularly runs to help improve their user experience. The latest major addition to the service was the introduction of podcasts such as the wildly popular Joe Rogan Experience and Daily Wire suite of shows.
Thus far, the nine audiobooks that are now available on Spotify are all part of the public domain, but the original recordings are exclusive to the streaming platform. David Dobrik narrates Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; Forest Whitaker reads the Frederick Douglass memoir Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave; Hilary Swank narrates The Awakening by Kate Chopin; and Cynthia Erivo reads Jane Austen’s Persuasion.
To accompany the audiobooks, Spotify has commissioned the series Sitting with the Classics on Spotify, in which Harvard professor Glenda Carpio offers a deep-dive on each book, exploring the history and breaking down the narratives and themes for a modern audience.
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Photo: Sorosh Tavakoli