Spotify to roll out auto-generated podcast transcripts to more creators in the coming weeks, company Announced Thursday.
Text transcripts will also be time-synced so listeners can visually follow the progress of a podcast episode. Transcripts are available by scrolling down below the podcast player and tapping the “read aloud” section. A show transcript makes the podcast more accessible to users and allows listeners to skip and skip through an episode without listening to it.
Spotify says “millions” of podcast episodes will get the tool, and in the future, creators could add media to transcripts — a useful feature if a creator describes an image in the show, for example.
Beyond transcripts, mobile podcast listeners around the world will now also be able to skip through an episode using chapters. Podcasters can add time-stamped chapters to their shows that briefly describe a segment of the show, allowing listeners to preview topics or start listening at specific points.
The automatic transcription feature follows the recent addition of an AI-generated voice cloning tool that translates podcasts into different languages. Announced earlier this week, the tool uses OpenAI’s Whisper technology to create versions of podcast episodes in other languages. The feature is limited to a handful of creators to translate English podcasts into Spanish, with French and German translations coming in the coming weeks.
