Spotify AI Adds New Feature That Translates Podcasts While Retaining Sound of Speakers’ Voices
Key Takeaways
- Spotify announced on Monday that it will be introducing a new feature for podcasts that replicates speakers’ voices and translates them into other languages
- The feature leverages ChatGPT’s latest updates, which were also announced on Monday
- Translated episodes are currently only available in Spanish, with plans to roll out French and German translations shortly
- The release could bring users looking for content in their native language to the platform, widening Spotify’s base
Spotify announced a new feature on Monday that uses AI to replicate podcasters’ voices and translate their speech into different languages.
The launch comes on the same day as OpenAI’s announcement that its flagship AI product, ChatGPT, has been updated so that it can “hear, speak, and see.” Spotify noted that it will be using OpenAI’s new voice generation technology to help power its translation feature.
During development, Spotify worked with some of the top podcasters on its platform, including Dax Shepherd and Monica Padman of “Armchair Expert,” Lex Fridman of the “Lex Fridman Podcast,” and Steve Bartlett of “Diary of a CEO.” Translated episodes of these podcasts are now available on Spotify and are accessible via the Voice Translation Hub.
Ziad Sultan, VP of Personalization at Spotify, noted that “By matching the creator’s own voice, Voice Translation gives listeners around the world the power to discover and be inspired by new podcasters in a more authentic way than ever before.”
Currently, translated episodes are only available in Spanish, but Spotify plans to release episodes in French and German in the coming days and weeks.
Can Spotify expand its reach with AI translations?
Spotify is already a leader among music streaming services, holding 30.5% of the market share as of 2022, according to a report by MIDiA.
Unlike music, which can be enjoyed by speakers of any language, podcasts present language barriers that can reduce listenership. Until now, there has been no easy way to translate podcasts into other languages outside of re-recording them in the target language — subtitles are not a practical solution given the popularity of listening to podcasts while driving.
AI is making podcast translation viable for the first time. If Spotify’s new feature works as promised, popular podcasts will be translated into other languages with minimal effort while still retaining the nuances of the original performance thanks to the voice replication technology. This will allow speakers of other languages to enjoy an experience similar to hearing the podcast in its original language.
Podcasts are a quickly growing market, currently at a market size of $14.1 billion, exhibiting a CAGR of 26.9%, and projected to reach $58.9 billion by 2028, according to IMARC Group. Spotify’s new feature has the potential to bring listeners over from other platforms by giving them a larger catalog of content to choose from as well as convince new users to sign up.
However, it’s not clear how long this technology will remain unique to Spotify. The company has stated that its translation service is powered in part by OpenAI’s technology, which means that it could be licensed out to Spotify’s competitors as well. In that case, Spotify’s accessibility advantage may be short-lived.
Additionally, it remains to be seen how this technology will be received by listeners once it’s implemented at scale. Although automated translation has improved drastically in recent years, the nuanced and comedic situations that are common in podcasts may pose a challenge, and imperfect translations could make podcasts less enjoyable.
That said, Spotify’s new feature is a step forward in terms of accessibility and could increase the company’s subscriber base.
The bottom line
Spotify launched a new AI-powered feature on Monday that automatically translates podcasts and replicates the speakers voices to provide a consistent listening experience across multiple languages. The release could potentially boost Spotify’s subscriber base and its stock price along with it, but it is not yet clear how listeners will react and whether it will remain a Spotify exclusive.
