Spotify launches an ElevenLabs-powered audiobook creation tool

In addition to tools for AI-generated podcasts, Spotify on Thursday introduced a new ElevenLabs-powered AI tool for self-publishing audiobooks within the Spotify for Authors platform. The company said at its Investor Day event that the feature will launch in beta in June on an invite-only basis, initially with English language support only.

The AI-powered audiobook generation does not tie authors to an exclusive contract, meaning they have the freedom to publish their generated audiobooks anywhere.

The news builds on Spotify’s previous partnership with ElevenLabs, which allowed writers to send audiobooks created on the voice AI startup’s platform to Spotify.

The audio streaming platform also already had a partnership with Google Play Books to enable digital spoken content. However, it may have wanted authors to have access to newer voice models that sound more expressive and human, such as those offered by ElevenLabs. Notably, ElevenLabs had released its own self-publishing platform for authors in 2025.

Spotify is also expanding its ‘Spotify for Authors’ platform to support ten more languages, including French, Canadian French, German, Dutch, Latin American Spanish, Swedish, Finnish, Icelandic, Danish and Norwegian.

Additionally, the company will expand its Audiobook+ plans this year to allow for higher listening limits and add new options for students and families in the future. (Spotify, however, did not specify pricing or usage details for these plans in the announcement.)

To date, Spotify has received more than one million Audiobook+ subscriptions, and is on track to generate $100 million in annual recurring revenue for the platform.

At the event, the company introduced a new way for users to ask questions in natural language for audiobook discovery. This summer, Spotify will also expand a feature that lets users create prompt-based playlists for podcasts and music, including audiobooks.

Spotify has greatly increased its focus on audiobooks in recent years and has managed to expand its catalog to 700,000 titles. The company took the program to international markets, investing in non-English titles, enabling in-app purchases and releasing chart-topping audiobooks. This year it also started a program for authors to sell physical books in the US and UK

Through these initiatives, the company has managed to increase listening hours by 60% year-on-year, the company claims. Spotify also said that more than half of its audiobook listeners started in the past year.