Findaway

Was a leading independent audiobook distribution platform and primary alternative to Audible's ACX for self-publishing authors and independent publishers.

Findaway was a digital audio technology company founded in 2004 and headquartered in Solon, Ohio, that built one of the most comprehensive audiobook and digital audio distribution ecosystems in the publishing industry. The company operated multiple products under its umbrella, most notably Findaway Voices, a self-publishing platform that allowed independent authors and publishers to distribute audiobooks to over 40 retail and library partners worldwide, including Audible, Apple Books, Spotify, and OverDrive. Findaway also operated Playaway, a line of preloaded physical audio devices widely adopted by libraries and schools, and AudioEngine, a B2B audio content delivery platform used by enterprise clients. At the time of its acquisition, Findaway had established itself as a major alternative to ACX (Audible's self-publishing arm) for audiobook creators, offering broader distribution reach and more favorable royalty structures. The company served tens of thousands of authors, publishers, and content creators, and its library-focused products made it a trusted partner in the educational and public library sectors. Findaway's technology stack enabled seamless audio content ingestion, encoding, metadata management, and multi-platform distribution at scale. In November 2021, Spotify announced its acquisition of Findaway, which closed in early 2022, signaling Spotify's aggressive push into the audiobook market. Following the acquisition, Findaway Voices was rebranded as Spotify for Authors, integrating its distribution capabilities directly into Spotify's growing audiobook ecosystem. The Playaway physical product line was divested separately. The Findaway brand effectively ceased to exist as a standalone entity, with its core technology and team absorbed into Spotify's audiobook infrastructure.