Spotify Bridges Audio and Print with Page Match
Spotify is making a bold move to blur the line between listening and reading—while putting independent bookstores squarely in the loop.
This week, Spotify unveiled Page Match, a new feature designed to sync audiobooks with physical books and ebooks, creating a seamless, format-agnostic reading experience. At the same time, Spotify announced a retail partnership with Bookshop.org, allowing users to buy print books directly through the app while supporting local bookstores.
Page Match: Read Where You Left Off—Anywhere
Page Match launches immediately, with Spotify expecting support for most English-language titles by the end of the month. The concept is simple but powerful: readers can scan a page in a physical book using the Spotify app, and the audiobook will begin playing from that exact point. Going the other direction works too—after listening to an audiobook, users can scan the print pages and Spotify will locate the correct spot, highlighting the text so they can continue reading.
Notably, Page Match isn’t limited to Kindle or any single ecosystem. It works with physical books and ebooks on any dedicated e-reader, setting it apart from Amazon’s Whispersync, which is confined to Kindle devices and apps.
According to Spotify’s audiobook product team, the technology relies on computer vision and text matching rather than generative AI. (AI does play a role elsewhere—Spotify’s audiobook recaps feature uses a language model to summarize progress—but Page Match itself is strictly about matching text to audio.)
Buying Print Books—Without Leaving the App
Spotify’s partnership with Bookshop.org adds a retail layer to the listening experience. Users in the U.S. and U.K. can now click through from a title in Spotify to its Bookshop listing and purchase a print copy. Spotify operates like any other Bookshop affiliate, earning a 10% commission, while shoppers can still select a specific independent bookstore to receive the bulk of the sale.
For indie booksellers, this is a significant visibility boost. Spotify’s global reach introduces millions of listeners to a bookstore-friendly purchasing option at the exact moment they’re discovering or enjoying a book.
More Formats, More Access
In a related development, Bookshop.org also announced it will begin selling ebooks distributed through Draft2Digital. The rollout starts with a sizable curated collection and is expected to grow rapidly, eventually tapping into Draft2Digital’s catalog of roughly one million titles across the U.S. and U.K.
Why It Matters
Together, these moves signal Spotify’s ambition to become more than an audiobook platform. By connecting audio, print, and digital reading—and by funneling sales toward independent bookstores—Spotify is betting that readers don’t want to choose how they read. They just want to keep going.
And now, they can—page by page, ear by ear, and shop by shop.