Audible tests AI voice replica service for narrators

In the US, Publishers Weekly (PW) reports that Audible is ‘inviting a small group of narrators to participate in a beta test that will enable them to create and monetise replicas of their own voices using AI-generated speech technology’.

In a blog post, Audible said the program would allow participants to create a voice replica for free and then submit a sample voice recording to the company’s Audible Creation Exchange (ACX) division, which will turn it into ‘a high-quality replica of the participant’s own voice’. Narrators can then use that file as part of their auditions for projects, and if they are selected by a rights holder, can ‘use ACX’s production tools to manage and review the final production, editing for pronunciation errors, pacing, and more’.

Audible stressed that narrators would control what works are narrated with their voice replica and said the company ‘will not separately use a narrator’s voice replica for any content without their approval’.

In related news, Audible recently announced the promotion of the former head of ACX and North America publisher partnerships Lee Jarit to the position of global head of publisher and partner relations.

As reported by PW, last November, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) announced that it had begun a beta test on technology allowing KDP authors to produce audiobook versions of their ebooks using virtual voice narration.

Category: International news