Bookmate lets you read unlimited books for a flat monthly fee, launches in Singapore

Avid readers in Singapore have a new option to go for. Bookmate, a service that lets you read as many ebooks as you want for a flat monthly fee, has launched in the country.

Think of it as a Spotify for books. The Russian company offers three tiers for users – free, standard, and premium. The free plan gives consumers access to a limited number of titles, while the standard tier – at S$9.98 (US$7.65) a month – offers most books except those in languages foreign to the reader as well as business and professional-related titles. The premium service costs S$15.98 (US$12.30) a month. The service has a library of over 500,000 ebooks.

Because it launched in Singapore in partnership with telco StarHub, the latter’s customers can get a special offer which brings the standard tier down to S$8 a month and the premium plan to S$14 a month.

Bookmate’s launch in the country could be a sign that Singaporeans are embracing ebooks more. While commuters can be seen lugging around their Kindles on trains, buying books from Amazon still remains a chore due to publishing rights. Apple hasn’t made books available to Singaporeans on iTunes either.

Things began to change from 2013. While several local ebookstores failed to take off, Google Play Books became available. The opening of Bookmate here gives Singaporeans more options.

“Singapore consumers are fast growing accustomed to getting easy access to an unfettered catalogue of premium online content, for instance, video and music streaming, across multiple devices for a flat monthly fee. This advancement is changing the way people consume content, and we believe the time is ripe to bring this same convenience to book fans, providing a timely boost to Singapore’s ebook scene,” says Michael Sim, lead futurist of entertainment at i3 (Innovation, Investment, Incubation), StarHub.

The Singapore expansion is Bookmate’s first foray into Asia Pacific. It has accumulated 1.5 million monthly active users around the world, and raised over US$3 million in funding.

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