YouTube will allow thousands more creators to include multilingual audio tracks with their videos. The company was already testing the feature with a small number of creators, and starting Thursday, many more will be able to include multilingual dubs with their videos to make them accessible to a broader audience.
If you want to try this feature yourself, check out this video on MrBeast’s YouTube channel. If you click on the gear icon, you’ll see an option for “audio track”, and if you click on that, you’ll see the different language options available. Videos will also default to the user’s preferred language.
In its early tests, YouTube says that, as of January, “we’ve already seen over 3,500 multi-language videos uploaded in over 40 languages.” Videos dubbed in multiple languages apparently see an increase in watch time, with 15 percent coming from “views in the video’s non-primary language” in January. And videos dubbed into multiple languages also mean creators may not have to maintain separate channels just to host videos in other languages; instead, they can rip a video to their main channel.
The expansion comes as YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki steps down and chief product officer Neal Mohan takes her place as the platform’s new head.
