Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Launch HN: Audm (YC S17) – Longform Magazine Articles in Audio

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 32 posts

Re: Launch HN: Audm (YC S17) – Longform Magazine Articles in Audio

#11

Post by christianpbrink »

totally wrote: post #10

Instapaper reads me long-form articles on my commute (iOS). I heard about audm on some podcast, I forget where. I checked it out, and decided it wasn't worth $8 a month to have a human read to me, instead of a robot, a small subset of the content I regularly consume. Robot-for-free over human-for-pay seems like an apt analogy for our time. At any rate, I like trials, and if your service is truly great and had the val…

We're glad you tried the app and hope you will try it again -- our whole focus recently has been on signing additional content partners, so that there's even more overlap between what you want to read and what we let you listen to.

Are there any particular publications we could add that might make the subscription price worth it for you?

Re: Launch HN: Audm (YC S17) – Longform Magazine Articles in Audio

#12

Post by tradesmanhelix »

Excited to check this out. Have been looking for a viable replacement for Umano since they were acquired by Dropbox in 2015, but have not found anything comparable to their service.

I never pay for apps, but I ended up subscribing to Umano (yearly subscription). Here's why:

-----------------

1. Wide selection of interesting articles, esp. tech and lifestyle ones.

2. Great narrators. Sounds like you guys are already hard at work on this, so kudos there!

3. Value. Umano used a freemium model, and I think it worked really well since the extra features (offline downloads, customizable story intros, etc.) added value once you were hooked on the experience.

I see you guys are taking the "pay for it" approach, and my only concern there would be getting people hooked, esp. since the initial trial period is so short. Umano had time to become an indispensable part of my life (listening while driving, working out, etc., plus it became a super easy way to keep up with current events), and that motivated me to pay for it. Not sure I would have ended up doing so had I been completely locked out without paying first. Also, I liked being able to get a year's worth at a discount. Once again, would not have felt comfortable paying for an entire year up front had I not already been hooked.

-----------------

Just my $0.02. All the best!

Re: Launch HN: Audm (YC S17) – Longform Magazine Articles in Audio

#13

Post by jansho »

I love that this is not just audio-narrating articles from some of my favourite magazines. I adore the Kevin Spacey-esque tone! What happens if some of these magazines start releasing their own audio version? I do remember that some Atlantic articles had this. Also, did you have to get permission from the magazines to audio-narrate their articles?

Re: Launch HN: Audm (YC S17) – Longform Magazine Articles in Audio

#14

Post by christianpbrink »

jansho wrote: post #13

I love that this is not just audio-narrating articles from some of my favourite magazines. I adore the Kevin Spacey-esque tone! What happens if some of these magazines start releasing their own audio version? I do remember that some Atlantic articles had this. Also, did you have to get permission from the magazines to audio-narrate their articles?

Thanks! We do partner actively with each publication, and we encourage them to use the audio versions we produce on their own websites and other platforms. That's where The Atlantic's audio comes from ;)

Re: Launch HN: Audm (YC S17) – Longform Magazine Articles in Audio

#15

Post by christianpbrink »

tradesmanhelix wrote: post #12

Excited to check this out. Have been looking for a viable replacement for Umano since they were acquired by Dropbox in 2015, but have not found anything comparable to their service. I never pay for apps, but I ended up subscribing to Umano (yearly subscription). Here's why: ----------------- 1. Wide selection of interesting articles, esp. tech and lifestyle ones. 2. Great narrators. Sounds like you guys are already h…

Great feedback. Would you email us at support@audm.com with 'HN' in the subject? We'd love to give you a longer free trial!

Re: Launch HN: Audm (YC S17) – Longform Magazine Articles in Audio

#16

Post by mcgrath_sh »

totally wrote: post #10

Instapaper reads me long-form articles on my commute (iOS). I heard about audm on some podcast, I forget where. I checked it out, and decided it wasn't worth $8 a month to have a human read to me, instead of a robot, a small subset of the content I regularly consume. Robot-for-free over human-for-pay seems like an apt analogy for our time. At any rate, I like trials, and if your service is truly great and had the val…

I am a heavy podcast listener and will toss my hat in this ring as well. I use the DreamReader app and can import websites, PDF, epub, etc. I use it to read study notes, books, and web articles.

I do appreciate a good audiobook and understand the value of a good narrator. However, I'd be more inclined to put my money toward audiobooks and let my longform journalism confinue to be read by the (suprisingly good) VoiceDream app.

I hope you do well. Have you thought about parterning with magazines and having access to your readings / the complete issue as part of a higher subscription tier to that publication? Something similar to the Economist?

Re: Launch HN: Audm (YC S17) – Longform Magazine Articles in Audio

#17

Post by christianpbrink »

mcgrath_sh wrote: post #16
totally wrote: post #10

Instapaper reads me long-form articles on my commute (iOS). I heard about audm on some podcast, I forget where. I checked it out, and decided it wasn't worth $8 a month to have a human read to me, instead of a robot, a small subset of the content I regularly consume. Robot-for-free over human-for-pay seems like an apt analogy for our time. At any rate, I like trials, and if your service is truly great and had the val…

I am a heavy podcast listener and will toss my hat in this ring as well. I use the DreamReader app and can import websites, PDF, epub, etc. I use it to read study notes, books, and web articles. I do appreciate a good audiobook and understand the value of a good narrator. However, I'd be more inclined to put my money toward audiobooks and let my longform journalism confinue to be read by the (suprisingly good) VoiceD…

Thanks for this feedback and encouragement! We'd love if you would give us a try and then share any additional thoughts you may have about the difference between our narrators and VoiceDream.

A few partnerships like you describe are in the works. Stay tuned.

Re: Launch HN: Audm (YC S17) – Longform Magazine Articles in Audio

#18

Post by carussell »

I see people launch stuff all the time and go with a choice that doubles as the fastest way to get people to forget your product—when someone visits your site and finds that it's locked away in an app store download. (In your case, Apple's, but it's the same for anyone doing Android-only.)

Can you publish to the Web? You might tell yourself that you need to wait for more resources so you can build the Android app that you've been wanting and then the webapp, but listen to me: you don't. You have something to publish. You don't need an app. Put it on the Web. That's what it's for.

Re: Launch HN: Audm (YC S17) – Longform Magazine Articles in Audio

#19

Post by christianpbrink »

carussell wrote: post #18

I see people launch stuff all the time and go with a choice that doubles as the fastest way to get people to forget your product—when someone visits your site and finds that it's locked away in an app store download. (In your case, Apple's, but it's the same for anyone doing Android-only.) Can you publish to the Web? You might tell yourself that you need to wait for more resources so you can build the Android app tha…

Thanks for making the case for this. We don't disagree.

Re: Launch HN: Audm (YC S17) – Longform Magazine Articles in Audio

#20

Post by totally »

christianpbrink wrote: post #11
totally wrote: post #10

Instapaper reads me long-form articles on my commute (iOS). I heard about audm on some podcast, I forget where. I checked it out, and decided it wasn't worth $8 a month to have a human read to me, instead of a robot, a small subset of the content I regularly consume. Robot-for-free over human-for-pay seems like an apt analogy for our time. At any rate, I like trials, and if your service is truly great and had the val…

We're glad you tried the app and hope you will try it again -- our whole focus recently has been on signing additional content partners, so that there's even more overlap between what you want to read and what we let you listen to. Are there any particular publications we could add that might make the subscription price worth it for you?

Honestly 25-50% of it is HN links, depending on the day. Tech blogs, nytimes, washpo, atlantic, new yorker. I detest reading on public transit so having the random one-off blog post read to be is a big help.
Post reply on HN