Spotify, the music streaming giant, announced the acquisition of Sonantic, the London-based startup that harnesses artificial intelligence (AI) to create realistic human voices like Val Kilmer’s in “Top Gun: Maverick”.
Summary
Spotify and Sonantic: harnessing AI to create realistic but simulated human voices
Spotify has reportedly announced that it has acquired Sonantic’s AI platform to offer new audio experiences to its customers.
Sonantic is a London-based start-up focused on harnessing artificial intelligence to create compelling, nuanced and stunningly realistic, yet simulated, voices from text.
Its technology is used in the gaming and entertainment sectors. Not only that, Sonantic contributed to giving life to Val Kilmer’s voice in “Top Gun: Maverick”, as in real life the actor is no longer able to speak like he used to due to throat cancer.
For Spotify, Sonantic amplifies the potential opportunities for text-to-speech functionality on this platform, and also, in the long run, the music giant anticipates that high-quality voice will be important to grow the listening share.
Spotify and Sonantic AI technology to improve platform voice quality
This new integration is bringing excitement to the music streaming giant. In this regard, here is what Ziad Sultan, Vice President of Personalization at Spotify, had to say:
“We’re really excited about the potential to bring Sonantic’s AI voice technology onto the Spotify platform and create new experiences for our users. This integration will enable us to engage users in a new and even more personalized way”.
Sonantic co-founders Zeena Qureshi and John Flynn also commented:
“We’re looking forward to joining Spotify and continuing to build exciting voice experiences. We believe in the power voice has and its ability to foster a deeper connection with listeners around the world, and we know we can be better than ever on the world’s largest audio platform”.
The companies did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.
The testing to promote NFTs
Recently, Spotify also launched a test trial to allow selected artists on the US Android app to promote their NFTs, directly from their profile on the platform.
Early reports of what was happening in Spotify were released by Steve Aoki and The Wombats, who reported that the platform’s test would only serve to support artists in promoting their NFTs and not to sell them, as this is done directly from their page on the marketplace.
In contrast, without much testing, Spotify embraced Web3 technology with its island in the Roblox metaverse launched in early May. Described as a “sound paradise”, Spotify wants to offer new interactive and virtual experiences for fans and artists alike.
