Findaway

Findaway is one of the world's largest distributors of electronic and audiobooks.

History

2021: Spotify bought Findaway

On November 12, 2021, Spotify announced the purchase of Findaway. The company declined to disclose the financial terms of the transaction, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021, subject to regulatory review and approval.

Findaway manages a number of brands and products, led by a large audiobook distribution business that connects content creators with such channel partners as Apple, Google, Scribd, Audible, Nook, Rakuten Kobo, Chirp, Storytel, Overdrive, Audiobooks.com and dozens of other world brands.

Other brands under the Findaway umbrella include Findaway Voices, which connects authors with professional announcers; Audioworks, in which the company produces audio for leading publishers; Playaway, which supplies pre-loaded audiobooks to libraries and schools; Orange Sky Audio, which works to provide listeners with a more diverse audio catalog; AudioEngine, which offers tools and technologies that allow developers to integrate a wide catalog of audio books into their own platforms.

Spotify acquired Findaway

According to the company, Spotify involves the entire Findaway team of about 150 people, and then plans to use Findaway's existing investment in the audio industry. It is also planned to expand access to audiobooks for 381 million monthly active Spotify users.

With this acquisition, we plan to accelerate the launch of audiobooks by expanding our platform. As of November 2021, Spotify users, as a rule, turn to other platforms to access audiobooks, and the company wants to make this consumption happen through the Spotify application itself. Initially, Spotify users can use the new Open Access Platform (OAP) technology to authorize using existing credentials to access audiobooks from Findaway and other audiobook partners such as Storytel, said Nir Zicherman, head of Spotify audiobooks.

More broadly, however, OAP offers publishers flexibility in determining how to sell their content that matches their own business models, which means they can introduce many new ways to unlock and listen to audiobooks on Spotify by the end of 2021. The first OAP integrations are expected in early 2022, Spotify said.

Spotify plans that Findaway will continue to manage its various brands and services in the same way, with the same employees and partners, working from its Cleveland headquarters. This approach is similar to what Spotify did with the acquisition of the Anchor podcast platform, which continued to offer distribution on other platforms, including Spotify competitors. Acquisition does not mean moving away from Spotify's commitment to podcasts in pursuit of a new area of ​ ​ investment in audio.^[1]

Notes