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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Lucy Knight

Spotify’s new audiobook streaming could have ‘devastating effect’, says Society of Authors

Spotify logo displayed on a smart phone with Spotify seen on screen
Spotify Premium subscribers in the UK and Australia can now access to up to 15 hours of audiobook content per month Photograph: Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

The Society of Authors (SoA) has said it is “deeply concerned” about Spotify’s new audiobook provision. The industry body cited “the devastating effect that music streaming has had on artists’ incomes”, and expressed its fear that authors may suffer in a similar way.

“The streaming of audiobooks competes directly with sales and is even more damaging than music streaming because books are typically only read once, while music is often streamed many times,” a statement from the SoA read.

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