Spotify goes all-in on robotic audiobook narrators

Spotify is doubling down on its efforts to compete with Amazon Music and Audible within the audiobook market.

Spotify has announced that it’s going to now settle for AI-narrated audiobooks from ElevenLabs, an AI software program firm that permits authors to create digital narrations for his or her work utilizing AI voice expertise. ElevenLabs lets authors narrate their audiobooks in 29 totally different languages and gives management over the voice and intonation of the AI-generated narration.

This transfer by the music streaming giant will undoubtedly pave the best way for much more AI-narrated audiobooks on the platform. Spotify mentioned that is considered one of its most “requested options.” Spotify labels any audiobook on the platform that’s voiced by AI.

“For authors in search of a cheap technique to create high-quality audiobooks, digital voice narration by ElevenLabs is a good choice,” Spotify mentioned in a press launch. “One in every of our most requested options, now, authors can distribute their ElevenLabs content material to Spotify and choose different audiobook retailers through Findaway Voices, reaching tens of millions of latest listeners and e book followers.”

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AI-narrated audiobooks aren’t new on Spotify

There are nonetheless issues about AI-narrated audiobooks

Spotify

This is not the primary time Spotify has dabbled with AI-narrated audiobooks. Over a yr in the past, the music streaming big partnered with Google Play Books to supply AI-narrated audiobooks on its platform. This new partnership with ElevenLabs will merely be one other avenue for authors to get their work on the market in an audio format, if they’re okay with their e book being narrated by AI.

The free model of ElevenLabs solely permits a consumer to generate 10 minutes of text-to-speech every month, whereas the Professional plan, which prices $99 a month, lets customers generate as much as 500 minutes (about 8 hours) of AI narration for his or her work. Spotify says it plans to proceed to “discover methods” for authors and publishers to get their audiobooks on Spotify.

Some authors are concerned about AI voice expertise, as they imagine it compromises the standard of the audiobook. There are additionally issues concerning the results on the livelihood of human narrators. In 2023, Spotify expanded its Premium subscription to supply 15 hours of audiobook listening.

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