A new AI-powered voice translation feature on Spotify makes it easier for podcasters to reach foreign-language consumers.
This innovative technology uses AI to translate podcasts without affecting the podcaster’s voice. This gives global listeners an actual listening experience.
Spotify is initially testing this game-changing technology with a few podcasters. The tool currently translates shows into Spanish and French. Plans are underway to add German translations.
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This new proposal relies on OpenAI’s Whisper voice transcription tool. Whisper transcribes and translates English well. Spotify’s technology transcribes speech and plays the entire podcast in the podcaster’s synthesized voice.
According to Spotify’s Vice President of Personalization Ziad Sultan, “By matching the creator’s voice, Voice Translation gives listeners worldwide the power to find and be inspired by new podcasters in a more authentic way than ever before.”
OpenAI developed this new feature’s voice replication. A tool that creates “human-like audio from just text and a few seconds of sample speech” is among the AI company’s morning releases. Due to safety and privacy concerns, OpenAI purposely limits this tool’s availability.
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Languages expand podcasters’ reach
Spotify’s translation technology is being tested with a few podcasters. Although Spotify has not announced plans for broader access, this innovation holds great promise for African podcasters.
It lets African creators overcome linguistic hurdles and express their unique thoughts and material worldwide. This will increase cultural interchange and African podcasting voices. African podcasters now have a greater chance to reach global audiences and amplify their perspectives.
In many African countries, like Nigeria, the number of people listening to podcasts is growing. This is because podcasts are easy to listen to while doing other things. As of 2021, Nigeria was the only place where Spotify users could listen to more than 2.9 million podcasts.
AI is being added to Spotify’s platform more and more, which is a great way to use it. The platform recently brought its personalised music feature called “DJ,” which is driven by artificial intelligence, to Nigeria and other parts of the world. This significant change happened six months after its release in North America.