The latest report from the DPP takes a deep dive into the future of localisation in the media industry, and how companies are going through a boom while also struggling to keep up with demand.
As part of The Future of Localisation, the DPP spoke to more than 50 experts from content creators, streaming platforms, localisation service providers, and technology vendors.
Its key findings include:
- Localisation drives both revenue and accessibility – content owners are using localisation to maximise ROI in their content, but it is also a critical part of making content accessible to diverse audiences
- High profile international hits have opened audiences’ eyes to international content, skyrocketing the demand for localisation in markets that previously had low demand
- Machine learning can now automate each of the components of localisation, but the results today are rarely of high enough quality to be used without human intervention
- The new growth area is voice-to-voice synthesis (known as ‘voice cloning’), which is creating excitement as a way to blend human performance with the benefits of machine learning, to scale up the provision of dubbing
“There has been a dramatic rise in the demand for content to be localised for different markets and languages,” said DPP CTO Rowan de Pomerai, the report author. “As a result, specialist localisation companies are going through a boom, yet are struggling to keep up. Our report looks at how technologies like automated transcription and synthetic voices could be part of the solution.”
Overall, the report revealed that localisation companies and departments must balance the need for innovation, efficiency, and scalability with the need to protect the craft of localisation and the experience of users.
The full report is available to for DPP members to download here.
