Spotify Layoffs: Music Streaming Platform Lays Off Employees to Focus on AI to Boost Its Podcasting and Audiobook Sections
Spotify focuses on AI to boost its podcasting and audiobooks amid the slow economic growth and multiple rounds of layoffs. Know more details here.
New York, December 11: Spotify has been a popular platform to offer customers audio-streaming services worldwide. The platform also provides podcast and video services and digital music services. In June 2023, Spotify laid off over 17% of employees and continued to lay off more employees; following the layoffs at Spotify, the company CFO Paul Vogel announced to quit on March 31.
After Paul Vogel quit the company, the CEO Daniel Ek said he needed to gain the experience to expand and meet the market's expectations. According to reports, the company had a team of 9,800 staffers at the end of 2022. After multiple rounds of layoffs, Spotify may be left with fewer employees in 2023 than it was the previous year. Spotify Layoffs: CFO Paul Vogel Quits After Massive Sackings, CEO Daniel Ek Says 'He Did Not Have Experience To Help Company Expand'.
Spotify Layoffs Leading to Faster AI Integration:
Spotify sacked its employees in three rounds in 2023, starting from January 2023. According to a report from CNN Philippines, Spotify's first layoff round began in January 2023, leading to 590 people losing their jobs. In June, the company laid off another 200 employees. In December 2023, more than 1,500 employees were ousted. After sacking these employees, the company reportedly introduced AI-powered features to customers.
According to the CNN report, "Spotify's investments into AI to boost margins for its podcasting and audiobook divisions look like a complete overhaul in strategy..." The report said the company launched AI DJ in 50 additional markets by leveraging AI across the platform to give customers a traditional audio experience. The other feature includes the AI Voice Translation for podcasts. Besides these features, the company reportedly rolled out audiobooks for Premium subscribers. Jobs Coming! Tata Plans to Build One of India's Largest iPhone Assembly Plants in Tamil Nadu's Hosur, Hire 50,000 Employees, Says Report.
Spotify partnered with Google Cloud in November to use the Google Cloud's Language Learning Model, Vertex AI Search. With the introduction of its new feature AI DJ in February and the use of Whisper voice translation by OpenAI, Spotify has been integrating AI into its platform to increase the customer experience and accuracy.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 11, 2023 01:38 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).