Audio content has entered a whole new phase of opportunity and potential. Podcasts have never been more popular (and their numbers keep growing every day). Many are moving from visual or written content to audio content that can be consumed while on the go. However, what about content that has already been created in another form – how do you efficiently turn it into audio? Enter text-to-speech platforms.

We caught up with Anan Batra, the Founder & CEO of Listnr, a text-to-speech platform, to learn more about text-to-speech and how it can benefit creators.

Melodie: Hi Anan, thanks for joining us today, great to catch up! Let’s start with the basics: what is text-to-speech?

Anan Batra: Hey Selin! My pleasure. Text-to-speech is, as the name implies, a technology that converts text into speech, i.e. reads digital text out loud. With a quick copy & paste of your text, however long it may be, the technology turns it into high-quality, human-sounding voices that makes the listeners think you spent hours in a recording studio, when in fact it was all done by artificial intelligence and machine learning.

That sounds really cool, it must really save a lot of time for creators.

Absolutely. Creators can convert their e-books into audiobooks, their blog posts into engaging podcasts and any other text into quality voiceovers – all within minutes & without recording anything. Not everyone has time to create their content twice, which is why text-to-speech is a massive efficiency creator.

Tell me then, what are the main benefits of text-to-speech platforms?

Firstly, it’s really cost-effective. Professional voice actors are people who spent a considerable amount of time training in this area and getting experience, which makes hiring them very expensive. I’m not even mentioning having to pay for their performance, recording, equipment and time in the studio.

Compare this with text-to-speech platforms like Listnr, which produces voiceovers to a professional standard, at prices starting from just $9/month.

Makes a lot of sense, another example of technology streamlining processes which is what we love to see.

Exactly. You also get access to more than 20 languages, all sounding very natural in terms of having that human quality and local dialect.

Secondly, it greatly increases the accessibility and reach of your content. The way people consume media has moved from being purely screen-time to more of a background activity while going about their daily tasks, such as commuting, walking the dog or cooking. By converting your text content into audio, you tap into a whole new segment of content consumers, i.e. audio listeners, and text-to-speech offers the lowest barrier to entry in the world of audio.

It’s also really important to consider everyone’s needs – not everyone has the ability (or time) to read pages and pages of text. Text-to-speech makes your content accessible in the most easy and accessible way possible.

Great point! Listening to (instead of reading) content should also be more engaging, right?

Definitely. The volume of information out there is growing exponentially while attention spans are getting shorter. Audio is much more engaging than text, and the more engagement you can achieve, the more likely your message will land with your audience.

All of these benefits definitely emphasise why podcasts have been so successful. With text-to-speech, you can literally create your own podcast from text, without having to record anything then?

100%. At Listnr, making podcast creation easier for clients has been a core objective of ours. Long turnaround times have been a major pain point for the podcasting industry, and we wanted to solve that for once and all. With Listnr, users can produce & edit podcasts in a couple of minutes, as well as host and distribute – all within the same platform, quickly and efficiently.

Amazing technology, making audio content creation and marketing a breeze. Thanks for the chat Anan, I loved hearing more about what text-to-speech does.

Likewise Selin, thanks for a fun chat!