Spotify is pushing deeper into artificial intelligence, and this time, it wants users to make their own podcasts.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the company announced at its investor day on Thursday that it is rolling out "personal podcasts," a feature that will allow users to create podcast episodes in the app based on their interests and listening habits.
The tool works similarly to Spotify's existing Prompted Playlists feature. Users type in a request, and Spotify creates tailored audio in response. The company said someone could ask for a daily city update with local concert recommendations or request a five-minute explanation of economics.
Spotify said users will be able to set those AI-made podcasts on daily or weekly schedules, pick a voice, and provide more context with text, PDFs, or links, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The episodes will remain private, living only in each user's library. The feature is set to roll out next month to eligible Premium users in the United States.
The announcement signals that Spotify is moving even further away from being just a place to find music and shows made by people. Instead, it is becoming a platform where AI can generate more of the content users consume — and charge them for more access along the way.
The feature is not launching as a free public tool. It will be limited to eligible Premium subscribers, and usage will be tied to monthly credits, with additional credits available for purchase. In other words, Spotify is turning personalized audio into another paid product inside an already subscription-based ecosystem.
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The move could also create more noise for users trying to find meaningful content from real creators. Spotify says the AI overviews will link listeners to relevant episodes, shows, and creators, but the company is still inserting synthetic audio between audiences and the people already making podcasts.
Spotify is not stopping with personal podcasts. The company also announced a feature that lets users ask questions about the podcasts they're listening to and get answers, plus a separate desktop app called Studio by Spotify Labs that can be used to create podcast audio and integrate with a user's calendar, inbox, and notes, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
For creators, Spotify unveiled creator sponsorships designed to let podcasters earn recurring revenue directly from engaged fans on the platform. That could open a new income stream, though it also places creators deeper inside Spotify's system as the company adds more AI tools around them.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Gustav Söderström, co-CEO of Spotify, said as part of the investor presentation, "We're entering the era of Generation, where the experience isn't just selected from a catalog. It's shaped by each of our users, in real time, around their taste, context, and intent … Today, there is no media player for both public and private content — or put differently — there is no media player for the generative era. We believe Spotify will become that."
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A post by the Hollywood Reporter on the social platform X sharing the article elicited strong reactions.
"Glad I got rid of Spotify. It's nothing like it once was," one user said. "Just a bloated platform of slop now."
"I think we live in hell," added another.
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