More players in the audiobook market are welcome, according to Anja Gatu, who, however, wishes to compete with something other than price pressure.
On Storytel you get access to all literature for 229 SEK a month and then you understand that someone has to pay for it to be so cheap, and that's the authors.
Spotify has not released information about its compensation levels, notes Anja Gatu, who emphasizes that "it is not the musicians who have benefited from Spotify's expansion on the music side."
“A little sweaty”
The major publishers are positive about streaming giant Spotify's major investment in audiobooks in the Swedish market.
It's two thoughts at the same time. On the one hand, a bit of a pain for our streaming business. But on the other hand, it's very positive for our publishers and authors. And historically, that's always been our priority, says Håkan Rudels, CEO of Bonnier Books.
It is our job to earn the authors' trust in some way every day, no matter how clichéd it sounds.
Interesting question
The negative effect is that Bonnier's streaming service Bookbeat will have another strong competitor. Is there room for so many streaming services in Sweden, where in addition to Bookbeat, Storytel and Nextory are also major players?
That is both the exciting and big question over time. We will see. It is too early to say. But it is clear that what it looks like in Sweden and Finland, for example, is not what it looks like in any other country in Europe, says Rudels.
Claus Wamsler-Nielsen, chief commercial officer at Storytel Group, hopes that Spotify will make the audiobook market grow even more. That's what happened in the Netherlands, where Spotify launched audiobooks a year ago, he says.
We have actually had one of the best years in the Netherlands at Storytel, he says.
Three months
Within three months we will know how it goes, he believes.
There is always a risk but we see two different types of behavior. At Storytel we have focused on book lovers, which is why we have subscriptions without limitations.
Helena Gustafsson, content manager at Storytel, which owns publishers Norstedts, Lind & Co and Bokfabriken, also sees Spotify's entry as a good way to reach out even more broadly.
It is important for our publishers that our authors have the opportunity to be on all available services. It is an important part of our business.
