YouTube to Set Off an Audio Dubbing Spree

YouTube is giving creators a new handy way to expand their audiences. On Thursday, the video streaming giant said it will roll out tools for creators to add their own audio dubbing to new and existing long-form videos, a way to increase the reach of the same video to viewers who want to choose different languages. 

The free feature could lead to a big increase in viewer numbers and engagement for the creators with enough of a following to afford language dubbing. YouTubers have already been experimenting with such dubbing. MrBeast, for example, started reposting his English-language videos dubbed in Spanish on his channel MrBeast en Español, which has 23.6 million subscribers, about a year ago. YouTube’s tool means creators won’t need to manage a separate channel for each language they want to post in, or even post two videos. Viewers can click on the same video and choose from multiple languages, similar to what some streaming services such as Netflix offer.