- YouTube is reportedly exploring the option to add a dedicated audiobooks feature.
- Access to audiobooks could be included in your YouTube Premium subscription.
- Google is reportedly working with publishers to bring audiobooks to the platform officially.
For two decades, YouTube has been our source for music videos, comedy skits, movie clips and trailers, podcasts, video lectures, and an unimaginably large dimension of user-generated content. It’s also where you’d find a large volume of audiobooks, often unlicensed or not copyrighted. But YouTube may soon open the gates to a much bigger catalog of titles with official audiobook support.
According to the Wall Street Journal (paywalled), YouTube is looking to officially bring on a dedicated audiobooks feature to the platform. The report says that Google has been holding discussions with publishers to bring select audiobooks to its platform, and the feature could arrive by 2027. It’s also suggested that YouTube might bundle it with YouTube Premium subscriptions at no extra cost. However, it’s unclear whether free users will be completely cut off from audiobooks or will have to pay for each title separately.