Spotify pilots AI generated Voice Translation for podcasts in other languages

Spotify said, in part, on its For the Record blog, earlier: “Across cultures, countries, and communities, the stories we share bring us together. And more often than not, it is the voices of the speakers that lend as much weight to the stories as the narratives themselves. For more than 15 years, Spotify’s global platform has empowered creators of all walks to share their work with audiences around the world. At its core, this has been made possible through technology that’s leveraged the power of audio to overcome barriers to access, borders, and distance. But with recent advancements, we’ve been wondering: Are there more ways we can bridge the language gap so that these voices can be heard worldwide?… we’re excited to pilot Voice Translation for podcasts, a groundbreaking feature powered by AI that translates podcasts into additional languages-all in the podcaster’s voice…This Spotify-developed tool leverages the latest innovations-one of which is OpenAI’s newly released voice generation technology-to match the original speaker’s style, making for a more authentic listening experience that sounds more personal and natural than traditional dubbing. A podcast episode originally recorded in English can now be available in other languages while keeping the speaker’s distinctive speech characteristics. “