I made a Spotify AI Audiobook: AKA the good the bad and ugly of Spotify AI Text to Audio

I took the plunge and turned my e-pub file into a audiobook with Spotify’s text to audio beta program. Here’s a link if you want to hear a sample or check out the audio book:

Forgotten Twin: Faith, Trauma and the Things We Can’t Repair

Here is my thoughts on the experience:

The Good

  • The AI voices are amazing! They sound great (mostly)

  • You can set pronunciation for ANY word. Its a little tedious, but doable.

  • This tool seems perfect for any book without a lot of dialogue. Really, if I had a self help / educational / instructional book, I would use this tool in a heartbeat.

The Bad

  • You need to wade through a little bit of tedium in the sign up process, but the Spotify help desk is actually really responsive via email. You have to set up payments and two factor authentication before you can upload your book.

  • For some reason, the AI introduces each chapter just with the chapter name, NOT with “Chapter Three, Leaving Home.” It’s probably an issue with my e-pub doc. So, the book can feel like it’s bleeding together. I tried a 1000 ways to fix this but to no avail. I will probably do a second take in a month or so (you can have it reproduce your book four different times) after I learn more about the system. Maybe the AI will improve a little in that time?

  • It reads a little fast and doesn’t take long enough breaks between chapters.

  • You get 1000 “free book” promos codes you can use to give your book to anyone. I will give mine out after I make a second and better pass - at least fixing the chapter names.

The Ugly

  • The AI struggles with emotions in dialogue. It rarely, if ever, nails the right feel. It doesn't slow down or soften or pick up speed. It's really bad at tenderness and sadness. For any fiction and most memoir, this is a big drawback.

  • There are occasional stutters or blip noises. I have listened to most of my book, and there are about 4 such strange noises moments.


Check out the book if you have a moment and (and a Spotify account). Also, let me know if you have any thoughts or questions.

Thanks,

Matt