For publishers, the charts offer a new promotional channel and real-time market intelligence.

Spotify has introduced Audiobook Charts in the United States and United Kingdom, marking a significant development in the streaming platform’s expansion into the spoken-word market.

The feature, launched in February 2026, provides weekly rankings of top-performing audiobooks both overall and by genre, mirroring the company’s established Music and Podcast Charts.

The charts are updated weekly based on actual listening behaviour and engagement metrics from Spotify’s user base, which comprises over 600 million monthly active users globally. Both free and premium subscribers can access the rankings through the Audiobooks hub, with genre-specific categories varying by market – ten in the US and four in the UK.

The View From The Beach

This launch represents Spotify’s latest effort to position audiobooks as a mainstream entertainment format alongside music and podcasts. The company has emphasised that improved discoverability directly correlates with increased demand – a pattern established through its other content verticals.

For publishers, the charts offer a new promotional channel and real-time market intelligence. For authors, particularly independent and emerging writers, the visibility could prove transformative in building audience reach. The feature arrives shortly after Spotify’s announcement of Page Match, an innovation enabling seamless switching between print/e-book and audiobook formats.

Spotify entered the audiobook market in 2022, a move met with ridicule by many in publishing, but has since invested heavily in exclusive content and user experience improvements.

The charts initiative follows similar moves by competitors, including Amazon’s Audible, which has long provided bestseller rankings. However, Spotify’s integration of audiobooks into its existing ecosystem – where users already consume music and podcasts – offers distinct cross-promotional advantages.

The platform’s audiobook catalogue now exceeds 250,000 titles, with the company pursuing aggressive licensing agreements with major publishers and independent authors alike.

This post first appeared in the TNPS LinkedIn newsfeed.