Spotify acquires AI voice platform Sonantic used to simulate Val Kilmer’s voice in Top Gun Maverick

Spotify has acquired Sonantic, a London-based startup whose AI engine can create almost human-sounding voices from text.

Sonatonic says that it can “reduce production timelines from months to minutes by rapidly transforming scripts into audio.”

While details of the deal and Spotify’s plans for the startup were not shared, it offers new opportunities to expand the streamer’s ambition as the home of “all things audio.” Possibilities include AI-created audiobooks, blogs, and other “print” media turned into podcasts and other audio.

Sonatonic tech was used to bring actor Val Kilmer’s voice to life in Top Gun: Maverick since he is unable to speak after throat cancer.

“We’re really excited about the potential to bring Sonantic’s AI voice technology onto the Spotify platform and create new experiences for our users,” Ziad Sultan, VP of personalization at Spotify said in a statement. “This integration will enable us to engage users in a new and even more personalized way.”

Bruce Houghton is Founder and Editor of Hypebot and MusicThinkTank and serves as a Senior Advisor to Bandsintown which acquired both publications in 2019. He is the Founder and President of the Skyline Artists Agency and a professor for the Berklee College Of Music.