Spotify launches pilot Voice Translation for podcasts

While everyone is anxious to learn more about Spotify’s HiFi tier, the streaming company announced the launch of a much smaller new feature: Voice Translation for podcasts.

The pilot Voice Translation for podcasts is a new feature powered by AI, which does exactly what the name suggests: it translates podcasts into additional languages in podcaster’s voice.

Developed in partnership with OpenAI, Voice Translation will match the original speaker’s voice for a more authentic listening experience. Thanks to the new feature, a podcast episode originally recorded in English will be available in other languages while keeping the speaker’s speech characteristics.

In the same piece of news, Spotify announced that it has worked with popular podcasters such as Dax Shepard, Monica Padman, Lex Fridman, Bill Simmons, and Steven Bartlett as part of the pilot.

According to Spotify, the first voice-translated episodes from pilot creators will be available worldwide to Premium and free users. However, the initial bundle of translated episodes will only be available in Spanish, with French and German rolling out in the coming days and weeks.

Starting today, the following podcast episodes will be rolled out to users on the respective Now Playing View:

• Lex Fridman Podcast – “Interview with Yuval Noah Harari”
• Armchair Expert – “Kristen Bell, by the grace of god, returns”
• The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett – “Interview with Dr. Mindy Pelz”

In other news, Spotify revealed that more than 100 million people regularly listen to podcasts on its streaming platform, which shows that there’s a huge audience for those willing to create this type of content.