Last year, Spotify unveiled the ability to listen to audiobooks on the app. According to data from Spotify Wrapped 2024, its users flocked to the faeries.
As part of its annual Wrapped feature, Spotify revealed the top-performing audiobook genres in the U.S. were sci-fi and fantasy, followed by romance, fiction and literature, mystery and thriller, and, finally, biography and memoir. And not just any sci-fi and fantasy books either: of the Top 10 audiobooks in the U.S., four are romantasy novels — with Sarah J. Maas, the author of the TikTok famous A Court of Thorns and Roses series, holding three of the most listened-to audiobooks in the U.S. on Spotify in 2024. As such, she earned the inaugural title of Spotify Wrapped 2024's global top author.
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, also a romantasy book, was the ninth most listened to audiobook in the U.S. this year. Similarly — and yes, I mean similarly, and I will die on this hill — The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien landed in the sixth slot.
Here are the full Top 10 lists. As you can see, they're quite similar.
Spotify's top audiobooks in the U.S.:
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas
Icebreaker: A Novel by Hannah Grace
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Funny Story by Emily Henry
Spotify's top audiobooks globally:
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas
A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book One by George R. R. Martin
Icebreaker: A Novel by Hannah Grace
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
2024: The year of the romantasy genre
There is, of course, a beautiful gendered breakdown of these titles. The Top 3 audiobooks in Premium listened to by men in the U.S. were The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene, The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien, and A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. If you look closely, you'll see that those are all male authors — and the only male authors on the list of Top 10 audiobooks.
You might not want to see The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene turned into a film (some might say it was already made), but many of these books are lined up for the screen.
"As reflected in this year’s top lists, we’ve seen both new releases and back catalog titles from key authors of every genre garner new audiences on Spotify," Spotify's press release reads. "And in 2024, more than before, we saw a rise in book-to-screen adaptations into various media formats." In fact, 66 percent of Spotify's Top 100 audiobooks in the U.S. in 2024 will be or have already been adapted for the screen.
There's not much personalized data in this year's Wrapped for audiobook listeners, but authors get their own Wrapped, showing off everything from their top titles to rating and listener habits.
If all this data tells us anything, it's that 2024 was the year of Sarah J. Maas and romantasy. What does 2025 have in store?
