Spotify launches audiobook creation tool powered by ElevenLabs

Along with its AI-generated podcast tools, Spotify on Thursday introduced a new AI tool powered by ElevenLabs for self-publishing audiobooks within the Spotify for Authors platform. The company said at its Investor Day event that the feature will be launched in beta next June on an invitation-only basis, initially with English language support only.

AI-powered audiobook generation will not bind authors to an exclusive contract, meaning they are free to publish their created audiobooks anywhere.

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

The podcast platform also already has a partnership with Google Play Books to allow digitally narrated content. However, she may have wanted authors to come up with newer voice models that sounded more expressive and human-like, such as those offered by ElevenLabs. Notably, ElevenLabs launched its own self-publishing platform for authors in 2025.

Spotify is also expanding its Spotify for Authors platform to support 10 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 will add new options for students and families in the future. (However, Spotify did not specify any pricing or usage details for these plans in its announcement.)

To date, Spotify has registered more than 1 million subscriptions to Audiobook+, 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 using natural language to discover audiobooks. This summer, Spotify will also expand a feature that lets users create quick podcast and music playlists to include audiobooks, she said.

Spotify has increased its focus on audiobooks significantly in the past few years and has been able to build its catalog to 700,000 titles. The company brought the software to international markets, invested in non-English titles, enabled in-app purchases, and released plans for audiobooks. This year, it also started a program for authors to sell paperback books in the US and UK

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