Spotify is morphing into all-purpose audio service | Image by Spotify
Spotify is on a quest to make reading an activity of the past. All jokes aside, the new feature launched by the popular streaming app adds another content type to its audiobook strategy — magazine articles.
Spotify launches "Articles" feature to narrate long-form journalism
The company has begun rolling out a long-form article narration feature aimed at bringing your favorite magazines to your ears.
It's part of a strong push for additional narrated content in the Audiobooks section, and starting today, users will have the option to listen to over 650 spoken magazine stories from publications including Rolling Stone, The Atlantic, Vogue, WIRED, Pitchfork, and Vanity Fair.
How often do you read magazines?
Articles cost $2 per piece for free Spotify users
Spotify is pushing hard to become an all-purpose audio app | Image by PhoneArena
The new feature is called "Articles," and the idea behind it is to let Spotify users consume journalism the same way they listen to podcasts.
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These articles can be found in the audiobooks section, and each piece is less than two hours long.
As for the narration itself, it will be a mix of human and AI-generated content, according to TechCrunch. The AI narration will also be clearly marked.
For free Spotify users, these articles will cost $2 per piece, while Premium subscribers will be able to access the new feature using their monthly audiobook quota.
Shorter audio content is seen as a gateway to audiobooks
Spotify thinks that in order to lure you into listening to whole books, it should start short. Colleen Prendergast, Spotify Audiobooks’ licensing lead, said that "By bringing shorter form content into the mix, we’re meeting audiences where they are to help build healthy listening habits, ultimately growing engagement with books over time."
This feature is nothing new or groundbreaking, though. Direct competitors such as Audible have tried similar narrated short formats, and even big media outlets like The Economist and Financial Times have options to narrate long articles, but those never got enough traction to become a new mainstream format.
Spotify is transforming
The world is changing and so is Spotify. The power of AI now enables cheap and fast human-like narration of just about anything. Spotify is trying to seize this opportunity and transform from a pure music streaming service to an all-purpose audio platform.
Whether or not this transformation will be successful is too early to tell. The company recently announced Personal Podcasts - another AI-powered feature. Would you listen to magazine articles on Spotify?
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Mariyan, a tech enthusiast with a background in Nuclear Physics and Journalism, brings a unique perspective to PhoneArena. His childhood curiosity for gadgets evolved into a professional passion for technology, leading him to the role of Editor-in-Chief at PCWorld Bulgaria before joining PhoneArena. Mariyan's interests range from mainstream Android and iPhone debates to fringe technologies like graphene batteries and nanotechnology. Off-duty, he enjoys playing his electric guitar, practicing Japanese, and revisiting his love for video games and Haruki Murakami's works.
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