The weekly Tuesday issue is free, and you can subscribe to two additional Hot Pod Insider newsletters per week for $7 / month or $70 / year.ДЇindaway turns Spotify into an audiobook distributor This leads us to the next thing to think about in relation to this deal.Д®njoying this story? Hot Pod is a newsletter from The Verge that delivers news, analysis, and opinions on the audio industry written by Ashley Carman. Once a book is recorded, Findaway can distribute it, too, which generates revenue. It likely can improve on FindawayвЂ™s tech, too, given that it has an entire team dedicated to cracking on-the-go recording in Anchor. ItвЂ™ll interface with creators, something it already does through Anchor and its music work, and generate revenue at the same time. This offers a clear business opportunity for Spotify. ItвЂ™s usually on the level of a highly produced podcast.ДЇindaway operates a business called Voices that sets authors up with a narrator and ensures content gets made well, but in exchange, authors pay Findaway to make that happen and use their services. Audiobooks often involve a narrator, if not actors, audio clips, and more. Now, itвЂ™s not as easy as recording audio on your phone, overlaying some music, and pressing publish to make an audiobook, at least a quality one. Akin to how Spotify bought Anchor to make recording and publishing a podcast easy, Findaway plays a similar role in the audiobook space. LetвЂ™s start with the most approachable idea for us podcast folks. In the interest of better understanding why Spotify sees a future in the space, letвЂ™s break it down by what you need to know when thinking about this deal. There are powerful publishers to handle, a separate revenue model, a higher barrier to entry, and lots of IP rights to navigate. ItвЂ™ll be a crowded, but potentially powerful, destination.ДЄt the same time, though, Spotify getting knee-deep in audiobooks is a wildly different proposition than podcasts. When you open Spotify this time next year, the app will likely highlight an Armchair Expert episode alongside Taylor SwiftвЂ™s newest single alongside Barack ObamaвЂ™s newest book. This purchase sets it up to achieve that goal. The announcement likely made sense to anyone whoвЂ™s been paying attention to SpotifyвЂ™s audio moves, but for those who havenвЂ™t, to sum it up plainly: Spotify wants to be the place you consume all audio. Last week, Spotify announced plans to spend an undisclosed amount of money to acquire Findaway, an audiobook creation and distribution company that plays a major role in the industry.

The goal audiobook