The online publishing platform Medium introduces an audio feature to its premium membership.
Medium said that its members are now having an audio version of every "exclusive, member-funded story" along with some additional selections chosen by the company's editorial team. As of the announcement, there are already more than 50 stories available as audio version, with more added in the future.
This feature isn't just a text-to-speech translations of content; instead, the audio are professional recordings from actual voice artists, or from the post writers themselves in some cases. Medium thinks that its members will enjoy using this while on-the-go, or while doing other activities.
"Media is broken. And we need to fix it," said executive Evan Williams who is also the co-founder of Twitter.
With it, Medium is hoping for the chances to increase its paying members, and helps accessibility for those who have poor eyesight.
The company pivoted into a premium membership starting March 2017, after revealing that it had a unsustainable business plan. The fee is $5 per month for what it promised would be a better reading experience and content.
While there have been skepticism about its business plan, the company believes that an audio version of stories would be a good selling point for why people should be a member. Medium said that this audio feature is only the beginning of its additional updates in the future.
The service is available on Medium’s site and mobile apps, and members are being notified about this new feature in an email starting May 20th, 2017.