YouTube is discussing a plan to add audiobooks to its ad-free Premium subscription, according to The Wall Street Journal. The feature could be announced next year, although Google has not officially confirmed the negotiations.

If introduced, audiobooks would become another benefit included with YouTube Premium rather than a separate purchase. That would give subscribers access to listening without advertisements while potentially making the service more appealing after recent price increases.

Audiobooks could become a Premium-only benefit

Google already sells audiobooks through the Google Play Store, where customers purchase individual titles. The existing model does not include an audiobook subscription, so adding a catalog to YouTube Premium would represent a significant change in how Google distributes the content.

The reported plan would also help separate YouTube Premium from the cheaper Premium Lite plan. Premium Lite removes advertising from some YouTube content, but it does not include the full set of Premium benefits. The source material indicates that Premium Lite excludes music while retaining ad-free podcast playback.

YouTube Music added podcast support in 2023. Premium subscribers can listen to podcasts online and offline without advertisements, giving Google an existing foundation for expanding its subscription beyond video and music.

YouTube would face stronger competition from Spotify

Audiobooks would put YouTube in more direct competition with Spotify, which already offers books through its paid services. Spotify introduced an audiobook-only tier several years ago and also made audiobooks available as part of its Premium plan.

Spotify expanded its audiobook service to more than 180 markets earlier this year. The company has also added features intended to connect physical reading with audio listening. Its Page Match tool lets users photograph the page they are reading so the service can identify where to begin the audiobook.

That gives Spotify a more established audiobook strategy, while YouTube could use its large existing subscription base and broader entertainment offering to attract listeners. Bundling audiobooks with Premium would allow Google to position the service as a single subscription for video, music, podcasts and books.

Google has not confirmed the reported plan

The discussions remain unconfirmed. The Wall Street Journal reported that YouTube is speaking with publishers, but neither a launch date nor the scope of a potential audiobook catalog has been announced.

Google’s current Play Store approach means the company already has experience selling audiobook content. Moving some access into YouTube Premium would nevertheless require agreements with publishers and could change the value proposition of both YouTube Premium and Premium Lite.

Until Google makes an official announcement, it is unclear which markets would receive the feature, whether all Premium subscribers would get access, or whether the company would impose listening limits. For now, the reported negotiations point to a broader effort to make YouTube Premium more competitive in subscription audio.