What is the difference between purchased audio books and "free" audiobooks

[Laurela]

I wanted to take advantage of the new audiobooks on Spotify, but the title I wanted to listen to requires an individual purchase. If I make this purchase, will listening to this title also impact my monthly listening hour allotment? Or will I have access to this title indefinitely and can listen multiple times for as many hours as I want without losing listening hours? Also will this be common that many titles will need to be "unlocked?" It seems strange that there's the hourly allotment system and individual purchases.

[Susan_GP]

Hi @Laurela,

Thanks for posting in the Community and welcome.

First up, not all audiobooks in our catalog are included in the Spotify Premium subscription. That's why some of them have the option to unlock/purchase. However, we look forward to welcoming more titles into our Premium catalog in the future, and any interested rights holders should reach out to us directly.

Now, you have nothing to worry about, you can purchase audiobooks that are not included in the subscriber catalog, and they will not affect your Premium listening time. These purchases will show in Your Library and are available to listen to anytime.

However, you will also find some audiobooks that are 'free to unlock' (no purchase needed) and can sometimes affect your listening time. To avoid confusion, you can take this info into account: 

• If the book has the Included in Premium label, it will count towards your monthly listening time.
• If the book doesn't have the Included in Premium label, it means it's not included in the Premium catalog and doesn’t count towards your monthly listening time.

Check out this article to learn more about the Audiobooks Subscriber Catalog, and this one for more info about Audiobooks you can purchase.

Hope this helps. If you have any questions or need anything else, the Community is here for you.