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Spotify adds AI-powered QA and briefing generation features to podcasts
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For users, Spotify has been a place to consume podcasts made by other creators. The company wants to change that by introducing a personal podcast feature, which uses AI to generate podcasts for users based on an idea or a custom prompt. Earlier this month, the company released a GitHub-based command-line tool for Claude Code and Codex that allows users to create a podcast and save it to their own Spotify library. The company said that, soon, users would be able to create podcasts directly within the Spotify app. They can also schedule them to create daily or weekly briefs for topics they have a recurring interest in. Plus, they can also create one-off podcasts to understand a topic. Users can make a request like “Share my daily city updates, and tell me about local concerts from artists I love,” or “Help me understand economics in five minutes,” to create a podcast and have it saved to the library for personal consumption. What’s more, users can add links, PDFs, and text, and choose a custom voice to generate podcasts. The company is taking a leaf out of NotebookLM, ElevenLabs reader, and former NotebookLM devs’ app Huxe to create personal podcasts on any topic. Spotify also released a dedicated desktop app called Studio by Spotify Labs, which can connection wth users’ email and calendar to create personalized briefings. In addition, the company is rolling out an AI-powered Q&A feature for Premium mobile users in the U.S., Sweden, and Ireland today. With this, users can ask questions about the episode they are listening to or a concept mentioned in the podcast to get answers. They can also ask for podcast recommendations on specific topics. The new addition comes after the company released a prompt-based feature to create podcast playlists in April. Until now, Spotify has been pushing people to consume more video podcasts. The company said that users who streamed a video podcast were up 50% year-on-year. With this release, Spotify wants users to engage more with the app by asking questions about a podcast, which is akin to Ask YouTube, released by Google earlier in the week, and creating their own interest-based podcasts. For podcast makers, Spotify is making its creator sponsorship tool available to manage brand partnerships. Plus, it is also adding a way for creators to charge a subscription to unlock exclusive content and experiences. Social platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Snap already offer a similar product to content creators. When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence. Ivan covers global consumer tech developments at TechCrunch. He is based out of India and has previously worked at publications including Huffington Post and The Next Web. You can contact or verify outreach from Ivan by emailing or via encrypted message at ivan.42 on Signal. View Bio
As AI-generated artists and tracks flood music streaming platforms, Spotify is rolling out a new “Verified by Spotify” badge to help listeners more easily identify authentic human artists. To receive the badge, artists must meet certain criteria. Spotify looks for an identifiable artist presence both on and off platform, like concert dates, merch, and linked social accounts on their artist profile. Profiles that primarily represent AI-generated music or AI-persona artists are not eligible for verification. Additionally, artists must have consistent listener activity and engagement over time. Spotify is focusing on artist profiles that people are actively seeking out over a sustained period of time, rather than those who are experiencing one-time spikes in engagement. At launch, more than 99% of artists that listeners actively search for will be verified. Most are independent, representing a broad mix of genres, career stages, and regions, Spotify says. Users will start to see the new badges appear on artist profiles and next to artist names in search results over the coming weeks. The badges will feature “Verified by Spotify” text alongside a green checkmark. Image Credits:Spotify / Given the vast number of profiles on the platform, Spotify says verification will roll out on an ongoing basis, and that the absence of a badge does not mean a profile will not receive one in the future. Spotify is prioritizing artists with active fan interest and notable contributions to music culture, rather than so-called “functional music” creators — think algorithm-optimized background or focus playlists — whose content is designed for passive or background listening. Techcrunch event San Francisco, CA | October 13-15, 2026 “We’ve designed this new verification program thoughtfully with listeners and artists in mind, and we’ll continue to evolve this program over time,” Spotify wrote in a blog post. “Our goal is to make it easier for you to trust and understand the human artistry behind the music you listen to on Spotify, and develop long-term, meaningful connections with the artists and music you love.” The platform is also launching a new profile section in beta across all artist profiles that will highlight career milestones, release activity, and touring activity. Spotify says this section will give users a quick way to see an artist’s authentic activity even if they haven’t yet met the criteria for a verification badge. These updates mark Spotify’s latest efforts to address the rise of low-quality AI-generated content (AI slop) and impersonators on its platform. Last month, the company started beta testing an “Artist Profile Protection” feature that allows artists to review releases before they go live on their profiles to give them more control over which tracks are associated with their name. Spotify launched the feature a few weeks after Sony Music said that it had requested the removal of more than 135,000 AI-generated songs impersonating its artists on streaming services. Although Spotify hasn’t shared specifics on the number of AI tracks being added to its platform, rival streaming service Deezer announced last week that AI-generated tracks now represent 44% of all new music uploaded to its platform daily. When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence. Aisha is a consumer news reporter at TechCrunch. Prior to joining the publication in 2021, she was a telecom reporter at MobileSyrup. Aisha holds an honours bachelor’s degree from University of Toronto and a master’s degree in journalism from Western University. You can contact or verify outreach from Aisha by emailing aisha@techcrunch.com or via encrypted message at aisha_malik.01 on Signal. View Bio
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