Spotify Introduces Spanish-Speaking AI DJ: Meet Livi

Hola Livi: Spotify's AI DJ is launching in Spanish

Spotify's AI DJ is launching in Spanish as an entirely different persona: Livi. The music giant's AI DJ -- which uses a combination of personalization technology, generative AI, and an AI voice -- serves up customized recommendations to listeners in a conversational tone. It first came to Premium English-speaking users in early 2023. This announcement comes after Spotify raised its prices in the U.S. twice in the past year. The English persona, DJ X, is named after Xavier Jernigan, head of cultural partnerships and host at Spotify, who provided his voice for the AI to model. He worked with the team to make the vocabulary and speech patterns as accurate as possible. And the music service is keeping up the DJ authenticity. Instead of translating his voice into Spanish, Spotify opted to use another employee as a model for the Spanish DJ. Senior Music Editor at Spotify in Mexico City, Olivia Quiroz Roa, is the model for DJ Livi. According to a press release, she was chosen after "an extensive international casting call" because her voice "resonated the most with listeners," they praised her "relatability." DJ Livi will be available for Premium users in markets where the AI DJ is currently available, and will be expanded to select markets in Latin America and Spain.

Hola Livi: Spotify's AI DJ is launching in Spanish

Spotify's AI DJ is launching in Spanish as an entirely different persona: Livi. The music giant's AI DJ -- which uses a combination of personalization technology, generative AI, and an AI voice -- serves up customized recommendations to listeners in a conversational tone. It first came to Premium English-speaking users in early 2023. This announcement comes after Spotify raised its prices in the U.S. twice in the past year. The English persona, DJ X, is named after Xavier Jernigan, head of cultural partnerships and host at Spotify, who provided his voice for the AI to model. He worked with the team to make the vocabulary and speech patterns as accurate as possible. And the music service is keeping up the DJ authenticity. Instead of translating his voice into Spanish, Spotify opted to use another employee as a model for the Spanish DJ. Senior Music Editor at Spotify in Mexico City, Olivia Quiroz Roa, is the model for DJ Livi. According to a press release, she was chosen after "an extensive international casting call" because her voice "resonated the most with listeners," they praised her "relatability." DJ Livi will be available for Premium users in markets where the AI DJ is currently available, and will be expanded to select markets in Latin America and Spain.

Hola Livi: Spotify's AI DJ is launching in Spanish

Spotify's AI DJ is launching in Spanish as an entirely different persona: Livi. The music giant's AI DJ -- which uses a combination of personalization technology, generative AI, and an AI voice -- serves up customized recommendations to listeners in a conversational tone. It first came to Premium English-speaking users in early 2023. This announcement comes after Spotify raised its prices in the U.S. twice in the past year. The English persona, DJ X, is named after Xavier Jernigan, head of cultural partnerships and host at Spotify, who provided his voice for the AI to model. He worked with the team to make the vocabulary and speech patterns as accurate as possible. And the music service is keeping up the DJ authenticity. Instead of translating his voice into Spanish, Spotify opted to use another employee as a model for the Spanish DJ. Senior Music Editor at Spotify in Mexico City, Olivia Quiroz Roa, is the model for DJ Livi. According to a press release, she was chosen after "an extensive international casting call" because her voice "resonated the most with listeners," they praised her "relatability." DJ Livi will be available for Premium users in markets where the AI DJ is currently available, and will be expanded to select markets in Latin America and Spain.

Spotify adds a Spanish-speaking AI DJ, 'Livi' | TechCrunch

Spotify's AI DJ feature, an AI guide that introduces personalized song selections, is now available in its first language outside of English. On Tuesday, Spotify announced the launch of an AI DJ that speaks Spanish, confirming TechCrunch's earlier reports of the feature under development. Like the original AI DJ "X," whose voice was based on an existing Spotify employee (Xavier "X" Jernigan), the Spanish-language voice is also based on a real person -- in this case, Olivia "Livi" Quiroz Roa, a senior music editor at Spotify who resides in Mexico City. Spotify's AI DJ, which was first launched last year, is meant to serve as a smart audio guide that introduces music using a convincingly realistic voice. For Spotify, the feature isn't just a way for it to dabble around with new AI technology, it's also a way to increase the consumption of music on its app. According to its internal data, DJ users listen to a lot of music, and the use of the feature has continued to grow with an increase of more than 200% over the last year. The AI DJ itself is built using technologies from both OpenAI and Sonantic, an AI voice platform Spotify acquired in 2022. DJ X was initially picked to model his voice for the AI, which uses the same slang terms and expressions as Jernigan does, in addition to duping the sound of his voice. Meanwhile, Roa was chosen to be the newest voice for the AI DJ feature after an extensive casting call, Spotify said, during which the company found that her voice resonated the most with listeners. Listeners said the voice sounded relatable and as if they were listening to music recommendations from a friend, the company noted. X will not be going away with "Livi's" launch, but rather customers will be able to pick which AI DJ they prefer, according to Spotify. "We have millions of Spanish-speaking listeners on Spotify, many of whom have been taking to social media to ask about DJ," according to Spotify's announcement. "In fact, over the last few months, we've seen an over 215% increase in social conversation around DJ in Spanish," the company said. In May, TechCrunch reported on the Spanish-speaking AI DJ feature, when new text referencing DJ "Livi" was added to the app's code, alongside indications that the feature would become available in Mexico. However, Spotify's announcement indicates "Livi" will become available to Premium listeners in markets where the DJ X is already offered and other markets across Latin America: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. "Livi" is considered a "beta" test, for the time being. To use "Livi," Spotify Premium subscribers can access the feature from the Search tab on the app. From there, they must search for the term "DJ" and press play to begin using the DJ. To switch languages from an existing DJ, users must tap the three-dot menu within the DJ card, then pick between English and Spanish.

Spotify's AI DJ is now available in Spanish | Digital Trends

Spotify's AI DJ is about to sound a bit different, as the company has announced the launch of a Spanish-language voice called DJ Livi. The DJ feature launched last year is a personal AI assistant that already knows your music tastes (based on your Spotify listening habits) and will curate a list of songs you might like. The DJ will also provide its own commentary such as additional context about the song, artist, or band between the list of curated songs, as if you're listening to a radio host. Recommended Videos Spotify says that since it launched the DJ feature, it's learned that when listeners hear commentary alongside the music recommendations, they're more likely to listen to that particular song. Prior to the launch, they were more likely to skip that particular song. Introducing Livi, your personal DJ in Spanish Until now, Spotify's AI DJ feature has only been available in English and is voiced by Xavier "X" Jernigan, the company's head of cultural partnerships. The voice of the new Spanish AI DJ is Spotify's Senior Music Editor Olivia "Livi" Quiroz Roa. Spotify's DJ isn't the only AI voice based on an actual human. Sonos Voice Control uses the voice of actor Giancarlo Esposito for its AI assistant. The Spanish-speaking AI DJ will be available for Spotify Premium subscribers, where the DJ feature is currently available. Spotify will also be making the DJ feature available to Premium users in Spain and select markets in Latin America, including Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

Spotify launches Spanish language AI DJ "Livi" to drive engagement.

Why it matters: Dubbed "Livi," the move is further evidence of the music streaming platform's ambitions to drive growth and loyalty through AI tools. How it works: The Spanish-language speaking "Livi" is available for Spotify Premium members in dozens of markets where "X" is currently available. What they're saying: "I do believe this is the main way of just connecting to your favorite song or connecting to your favorite artist, just going through personalization," says Olivia Quiroz Roa, a Mexico City-based music editor at Spotify and the voice model for "Livi." The big picture: Spanish-language music has become a global phenomenon. The intrigue: Spanish is spoken very differently across Latin America and especially in Spain. While "Livi" will be leaning into her Mexican identity -- dialect and all -- a team of writers, data curators, music editors and user-experience engineers are also working to incorporate other ways of speaking Spanish, Jernigan said. What we're watching: Latin music is now characterized by its diversity rather than a singular sound, Juan Manuel Rótulo, Head of Music Editorial, Latin America at Spotify, told Axios.

Spotify's AI music DJ can now speak Spanish

The music streaming giant's music sommelier is available for Spanish speaking users. AI seems to be seeping into every facet of society these days, but that may not be the case in communities where English isn't the dominant language. Spotify is working to correct that by offering a Spanish-speaking version of its DJ feature. Spotify announced the new Spanish speaking feature for its DJ mode also known as Xavier or "X" on Wednesday. The new DJ is named Livi and Spotify has even given its new DJ a backstory describing her as a "Senior Music Editor at Spotify based out of Mexico City" and "a music expert who has spent her entire career in the music industry. It's basically a cruder version of how Jon Hamm can digitally assign backgrounds and perspectives to "cookies" in Black Mirror's Christmas episode. Does this mean X and Livia will start screaming if we play Wizzard's "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" on an endless loop? DJ is an AI generated list of curated songs based on a Spotify user's listening history. The DJ feature also includes an AI voice introducing and commenting on some of the songs it picks just like a radio DJ would except this DJ plays songs you actually want to hear. The music streaming service launched DJ last year using OpenAI. Six months later, Spotify expanded DJ's reach to 50 countries but only in English. Spotify's DJ is also starting to get some competition. YouTube Music just announced its own AI-generated conversational DJ radio generator for select users. If they don't call him "YouGene," then they are missing out on pure pun gold.

Spotify launches a new voice and language for its AI DJ

If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement. Spotify is launching a Spanish-language version of its "AI DJ" feature. The new Spanish-language voice has been provided by Spotify's senior music editor, Olivia "Livi" Quiroz Roa, with users able to switch between hearing Livi, or Xavier "X" Jernigan, another Spotify staffer who voices the English-speaking DJ variant released in February 2023. The feature uses an AI-generated voice to create radio-like commentary that provides users with additional context and information about the song they're hearing, which Spotify says makes listeners less likely to skip to another track. This commentary is paired with an endless playlist of personalized music recommendations that change based on user activity, such as if users switch to different genres or artists. The Spanish-speaking DJ will be available to Premium users in select Latin American and Spanish markets, alongside regions where the English-speaking DJ feature has already launched. This follows price increases being applied to Spotify Premium subscriptions for both US and international users in recent weeks, which Spotify said would allow the company to "continue to invest in and innovate on our product features."