Spotify launches Studio by Spotify Labs

Spotify said on May 21 that it is launching Studio by Spotify Labs, a standalone desktop app that lets users generate personalized audio, including private daily briefings and short podcasts, inside the company’s ecosystem. The product was announced alongside Spotify’s Investor Day materials and extends a push the company began earlier this month with tools for saving AI-generated “Personal Podcasts” to Spotify. The app is designed to pull from a user’s listening habits across music, podcasts and audiobooks, and, with permission, connect to outside tools such as calendars, inboxes and notes. Spotify said the product will roll out in the coming weeks as a research preview for select users aged 18 and older in more than 20 markets. ### What exactly is Spotify launching? Studio by Spotify Labs is a desktop app, not a feature tucked inside the main Spotify app. Spotify said the app is “designed to create audio shaped around you” and can generate a private daily briefing, build a playlist for a trip, or produce a short podcast on a topic a user wants to learn more about. The company said the app is conversational, allowing users to refine requests and adjust outputs over time. (newsroom.spotify.com) May 21 was also the date Spotify framed the launch as part of a broader product strategy around more personalized and interactive media. In separate Investor Day materials, the company said it is adding real-time question-and-answer features for podcasts and new monetization tools for creators, placing Studio alongside a wider set of podcast and audio updates. (newsroom.spotify.com) ### How does the app use personal data? Spotify said Studio can connect, with a user’s permission, to “the tools you use every day,” including a calendar, inbox and notes. The company’s example prompt described a user asking for a daily audio brief for a road trip through Italy using calendar details and bookings, plus a restaurant recommendation and a podcast suggestion for the drive. Spotify also said the app can use world knowledge, research topics, organize information and use a web browser to help complete tasks. (newsroom.spotify.com) May 7 marked an earlier step in the same direction. Spotify said then that users working with desktop agents such as OpenClaw, Claude Code or OpenAI Codex could use a “Save to Spotify” beta tool to turn a daily digest, class notes or a weekend itinerary into a Personal Podcast saved directly to their Spotify library. That earlier announcement showed Spotify testing demand for AI-made personal audio before introducing Studio as a dedicated app. (newsroom.spotify.com) ### Where does this fit in Spotify’s podcast push? Spotify said podcasting remains a growth area on the platform. In its May 21 podcast update, the company said more than 500 million users have streamed a video podcast and that those users are up nearly 50% year over year. The company also announced podcast Q&A features for Premium mobile users in the United States, Sweden and Ireland, plus new sponsorship and membership tools for creators. (newsroom.spotify.com) Alex Norström and Gustav Söderström, Spotify’s co-chief executives, used Investor Day in New York to outline what the company described as its next era of media. In that context, Studio adds a consumer-facing creation tool to Spotify’s existing businesses in music, podcasts and audiobooks. ### What safeguards did Spotify describe? (newsroom.spotify.com) Spotify said Studio is powered by advanced AI and “can also make mistakes” or “act in unexpected ways.” The company said users should review requests and actions carefully and verify results before relying on them. Spotify also described the product as an early preview and said some features and requests may not work perfectly yet. (newsroom.spotify.com) Spotify has also been adding trust features elsewhere in podcasts. On May 19, the company said it was expanding “Verified by Spotify” badges for podcast shows to help authenticate creator identity and likeness at scale as creation tools become more accessible. ### When can people use it? Spotify said Studio by Spotify Labs will launch “in the coming weeks” as a research preview. (newsroom.spotify.com) The company said access will be limited to select users in more than 20 markets and restricted to people 18 and older. Spotify did not publish pricing in the launch post, and it did not list the full market roster in the materials reviewed. (newsroom.spotify.com) May 21 is the key date for the launch announcement, while the next milestone is the research-preview rollout to those select users. Spotify’s newsroom post said the app will save media directly to a user’s Spotify Library, where it will sit alongside music, podcasts and audiobooks already on the service. (newsroom.spotify.com)