Case Studies

Democratizing Audiobook Creation with Hume's TTS

By Aaron Greene on August 25, 2025

About Spoken

Spoken is an innovative, AI-driven platform designed for independent authors who are seeking affordable alternatives to traditional audiobook production. Founded by Phil Marshall to solve the challenges he faced creating his own audiobook, Spoken empowers writers to transform their manuscripts into expressive, multi-cast audiobooks with full creative control.

Powered by Hume's emotionally intelligent Text-to-Speech API, authors can now create expressive, multi-cast audiobooks that rival professional voice acting.

The Challenge

The audiobook industry faced a fundamental gap: AI narration sounded robotic and lacked the emotional depth readers expect. Authors needed diverse character voices to realize their stories across genres, but existing voice services had limited ranges that constrained creative possibilities. This was especially true for indie authors, who found professional voice acting to be prohibitively expensive.

The Solution: Emotionally Intelligent Voice Generation

Hume's Text-to-Speech API provided Spoken with the emotional intelligence and voice quality needed to compete with traditional audiobook production:

Character-Driven Voice Matching: Spoken's manuscript analysis maps character attributes at the dialogue level, applying emotional cues and pacing instructions. And Hume's TTS generates voices that match detailed character profiles with precision—delivering what authors describe as "organic performances with nuanced and expressive qualities."

Studio-Grade Quality: Hume's TTS provides professional-level audio fidelity with textural qualities comparable to studio-recorded voice actors, enabling natural-sounding voices rich in emotional depth.

Results

Since integrating Hume's technology, Spoken has seen remarkable adoption:

63% author preference: Hume voices selected for audiobook projects in first months of integration
80% multi-cast usage: Authors choosing Hume voices primarily for complex, character-rich storytelling
Seamless integration: Fast implementation with immediate, professional results

"Hume's narrations are a great match with the way Spoken analyzes and prepares each passage," noted Spoken Founder Phil Marshall. "My own debut sci-fi novel is launching in September, and Hume's custom voices were a great match for my over 100 complex, accented characters. I'm a tough customer, and the combination of Spoken plus Hume for making a seamless multi-voice audiobook is simply unmatched."

As AI-generated narration becomes the industry standard, Hume's empathic voices are helping Spoken ensure every author can access professional-grade audiobook production, regardless of budget or resources.

For more information on how empathic AI can enhance your digital solutions, please contact Hume AI.

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