Those looking for a cheaper way to sample Audible’s vast library of audiobooks, podcasts and “celebrity content” are about to get a new option.
Debuting this week in a “preview phase,” the $7.95 Audible Plus plan will offer “all-you-can-listen” access to more than 68,000 hours of content and 11,000 titles, including audiobooks, podcasts, and a growing selection of exclusive “Audible Originals.”
Not included in the Audible Plus plan: credits, which you can trade in for audiobooks or other pieces of Audible content that aren’t included in the all-you-can-listen Audible Plus catalog.
You can get a monthly credit with Amazon’s “premium” subscription plan, which is now called Audible Premium Plus.
The $14.95-a-month Audible Premium Plus plan includes a single credit per month, along with access to the Audible Plus catalog, and it replaces Audible’s former Gold and Platinum plans.
Audible’s former Platinum plan, which served up two credits per month for $22.95, will be grandfathered in at the same monthly rate for current Platinum subscribers, and it will also include all Audible Plus content, an Audible spokesperson told TechHive.
The new Audible Plus plan will begin rolling out this week for existing Audible members, while new Audible users can sign up for the “preview” plan starting on August 27.
Audible’s new subscription plans arrive as Spotify is making a major push into podcasts, with the music streaming giant signing multimillion dollar deals for The Joe Rogan Experience podcast as well as Bill Simmons’s popular podcast network.
Spotify has also just launched support for video podcasts, as well rolling out charts for top and trending podcasts.
Audible has been looking to counter Spotify with its own array of exclusive podcasts as well as Audible Originals from the likes of Common, St. Vincent, Blake Griffin, Jesse Eisenberg, Kevin Bacon, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kate Mara, Tayari Jones, and Harvey Fierstein.
Updated on September 18, 2020 to clarify that subscribers to the former $22.95-a-month Audible Platinum plan will have their memberships grandfathered in at the same monthly rate, not the $14.95/month Audible Premium Plus rate. Our apologies for the error.