* Only being paid when a book is finished is bogus. I have a few audio books that have listened to for only a portion of the book. The biggest example being Seveneve where I don't want to listen to part 3 again.
* The 15 hour monthly limit might begin to act as pressure to keep audio books length under 15 hours. Some in sci-fi can exceed that limit now.
Why sell one book when you can sell a three part series.
This means the 15 hour limit is likely to only affect older novels before publishers caught onto this strategy.
Of course, the trilogy or series trick happens often too. I'm not sure how new that is, or how much that is influenced by audio books.
I think the stretched out audio hits harder on podcasts, but it's in audio books too.
Since authors are just trying an idea, frequently the first part is a slog where the plot barely advances, then a final action chapter that ends with a cliffhanger. No wonder many never continue.
When I read this I instantly went to review my collection. To my surprise, approximately half, were under 15 hours. I would have thought for sure none I've listened to were under 15 hours, but like I said, half were.
In my opinion, Spotify audiobooks will fail because of limits like this. When my listening was at its peak, I would crush multiple books a month (at 1x even). If I were a customer, the first time I hit that limit would be the last day I was a customer.