Spotify has surpassed Pandora to become the world's top music streaming service. It got even better with Premium for Family, offering up to six accounts for just $14.99 a month.
Spotify's vast music library is legendary. But what if music isn't your thing? As someone who's explored Spotify deeply over the years, I can attest that its lesser-known 'Spoken Word' genre delivers a treasure trove of non-music content—from poetry and lectures to stories and more. Here's how to dive in.
Far beyond audiobooks, Spoken Word spans comedy, poetry, short stories, lectures, and beyond. There's truly something for everyone.
Whatever your interests, Spotify's Spoken Word section has curated playlists to match. Let your preferences guide you to these standout picks.
Any poetry discussion starts with William Shakespeare, and Spotify features a dedicated playlist of his poems. For modern tastes, explore playlists spotlighting Emily Dickinson and Sylvia Plath.
Standouts include 'Poetry: In Their Own Voices,' with over 70 poems read by female poets, and 'A Hipster's Guide to Poetry' for eccentric, contemporary works. Other gems: 'Modern Poetry,' 'Love Poems,' and 'Poems for Spring.'
Spoken Word brims with language-learning playlists. 'Learn Spanish' leads with over 74,000 followers, alongside Italian, French, Chinese, German, Swedish, Irish, Arabic, Russian, and more.
Heading to Rio? Check 'Learn Portuguese' to prep for your trip.
Beyond his sonnets playlist, dive into 'Shakespeare: The Tragedies,' 'Shakespeare: The Histories,' and 'Shakespeare: The Comedies.' Tailor your mood—Twelfth Night vibes differ vastly from Richard II.
Sci-fi buffs love 'Sci-Fi Radio Dramas,' featuring Orson Welles' War of the Worlds, The Twilight Zone excerpts, and George Orwell's 1984. Isaac Asimov's The Foundation Trilogy is another essential.
Kid-friendly options include 'Once Upon a Time' with Pinocchio and Rapunzel, 'Stories for Your Inner Child,' and Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales. Holiday hits feature A Christmas Carol.
Indulge in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,' or the Brontës' Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. 'The Victorians' highlights Rudyard Kipling; French lit playlists offer bilingual options.
Revive old-school drama with 'Vintage Radio Dramas' (The Age of Innocence, Dickens adaptations) and 'Radio Crime Dramas' (Laurence Olivier in The Suicide Club, Edward G. Robinson in Key Largo).
'Guided Meditation' pairs practices with soft music; 'Eastern Spirituality' offers lectures on Eastern religions for deeper insight.
With 23,000+ followers, 'Animal Stories' includes 'How the Whale Got His Throat' and Rudyard Kipling tales. Full audiobooks like Herman Melville's Moby-Dick (5+ hours) are commute-perfect.
'Self Help Gems' (30,000+ followers), 'Presidential Voices,' MLK's 'We Shall Overcome,' Joseph Campbell lectures, 'The Beats' (Ginsberg, Bukowski), and Noam Chomsky's chronology await.
'Scary Stories' nears 72,000 followers with Hitchcock, Stoker, and Poe. 'The Essentials: Edgar Allan Poe' covers The Raven, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, and more; H.P. Lovecraft gets his own playlist.
Spotify's Spoken Word overflows with playlists—this is just a start. Try editor's picks: 'Editor's Choice: Fiction' and 'Editor's Choice: Non-Fiction.'
Learn languages, revisit history, or savor literature—all hands-free.
Found a new favorite? Share your go-to Spoken Word playlists in the comments!
