Premium users in the US will soon be able to generate personal podcasts that explain certain topics and provide daily briefings.
Spotify held its latest investor day event on Thursday. Among other things, it had some updates to share regarding podcasts and audiobooks. Of course, many of these concerned generative AI features.
For one thing, Spotify says you’ll be able to ask a chatbot questions about a podcast episode you’re listening to in order to get clarification, more context or recommendations related to a host or guest. Premium users in the US, Sweden and Ireland are the first to get access to this feature starting today.
The company is fairly transparent about why it’s adding this feature. It says you’ll be able to “delve deeper without leaving Spotify.” That fits in with other tech companies trying to construct walled gardens around their ecosystems to discourage you from going anywhere else on the internet to get information, as Google is blatantly attempting with its AI-powered Search.
Spotify is also expanding a feature that enables users to generate “personal podcasts.” It announced this tool last month with the option to use AI agents like OpenClaw and Claude Code to whip up such synthetic audio. The company says it’s adding a way for users to generate personal podcasts directly within Spotify. It notes that, after you enter a prompt, it will generate audio that draws from factors like your Spotify taste profile and world knowledge. You can also feed in text, PDFs and links to give the tool more context for what you’d like to hear about. (A new desktop app called Studio by Spotify Labs ties into that).
These podcasts can focus on things like explainers on a certain topic, daily briefings or updates on local concerts featuring artists you’re into. These audio episodes are saved in your library privately, and you can set up the app to generate episodes daily or weekly.
Spotify says eligible Premium users in the US will get access to personal podcasts next month. The company added that users will receive a set number of credits each month as part of their subscription, so there’s a limit on how many personal podcasts you’ll be able to generate without paying extra. Inevitably, you can buy more credits if you desire.
Audiobook updates
On a similar note, the company is set to introduce additional add-on tiers for Audiobooks+. Premium members get 15 hours of audiobook listening included with their plan each month. They can buy more with Audiobooks+ top-ups. This summer, Spotify will start offering more Audiobooks+ options with higher listening time limits. Family and student plans for Audiobooks+ are on the way later this year too.
Lest you think for one moment that Spotify’s audiobooks were immune from the plague of generative AI, the company is inevitably shoving such features into that part of the platform too. It’s expanding the Prompted Playlists feature that’s available for music and podcasts to audiobooks. This tool can generate a playlist based on your description of what you want to hear more of, your listening history and broader context of “what’s happening in the world around you.” Prompted Playlists for audiobooks will be available this summer.
