Spotify partners with Bloomsbury to share music book series

Spotify has inked a partnership with book publisher Bloomsbury. Under the terms of the deal, Spotify will exclusively offer titles (presumably in audiobook or video format) from the publisher’s 33 1/3 series, which includes short books centered on a single album. Series subjects include works by James Brown, Tori Amos, and Neutral Milk Hotel among the more than 130 published titles. The first one to become available on Spotify will be the book about Miles Davis’ album Bitches Brew.

“This is an exciting opportunity for our authors to reach a whole new audience,” Bloomsbury CEO Nigel Newton said. “For fifteen years the series has produced an amazing range of personal, experimental, and innovative music writing. I’m delighted that our partnership with Spotify will break new ground for the 33 1/3 series. It is one of a number of partnerships which Bloomsbury is successfully seeking out with the world’s most ground-breaking companies to expand our digital offering.”

“As a die-hard music fan, I discovered the 33 1/3 series many years ago,” said Courtney Hold, vice president and head of Spotify Studios and Video. “When I first joined Spotify to think about spoken word and audio content, I knew this would be a perfect partner for Spotify. We look forward to bringing this amazing series to our global music-loving audience.”

Anna Washenko