Any smart marketer knows that adding visual and auditory elements to your content creates a more immersive and impactful experience. No wonder video and audio streaming platforms have exploded in popularity in recent years. And so have the AI platforms that generate multi-media content with just a few clicks.
Today, we are reviewing Listnr for you. Maybe you are familiar with the name, maybe not. Either way, we will delve deep, exploring what Listnr is, what features make it different from other similar platforms, its pricing, pros and cons, and more importantly, finding out if it is worth your time and money.
So, without any further ado, let’s get started!
What is Listnr?
Listnr is a tool that uses AI to turn text into lifelike voices. It has 900+ voices in 142+ languages. You can create voiceovers for ads, e-learning, demos, presentations, audiobooks, and YouTube videos.
Listnr also has APIs for developers to use and allows users to make a podcast from text, publish it on a custom page, and share it on major platforms.
AI Voice Podcasts
Being an audio pro tool, making podcasts with Listnr is a breeze, especially when you don’t want to use your own voice. It starts with quickly choosing ‘Create a Podcast” from your dashboard. There are two options; you can either create a new one from scratch with Listnr or import your podcast from a hosting service like Buzzsprout or Anchor via the RSS feed.
When creating a new podcast, Listnr asks for some basic info - podcast name, your name, podcast description, and the category your podcast falls in. Of course, your podcast will have cover art, which you can either upload or create within Listnr via the Canva integration. Once done, simply hit ‘Create Show.’ And voila! You now have a podcast; time to create your first episode. Again, there are two options - you can either upload it or create a new one with Listnr. We get it, you are interested in the latter. So be it. Let’s create one.
You start by giving your first episode a title. Next, paste the podcast script in the given box. Now, let’s tell Listnr’s AI algorithm how you want your AI voice to sound. Pick a voice from over 1000 voices in over 142 languages. Choose the voice style and speed. But the part where Listnr sets a new standard for AI voices is pauses and pronunciations. I mean, you can specifically define the pause duration of individual punctuation marks including commas, dash, question marks, and colons.
And it may seem quite obvious but often AI voices don’t get some pronunciations right. Thankfully, Listnr lets you build your custom pronunciation library. For example, you can replace the word ‘background’ with ‘bakgrownd’ for AI to say it correctly.
Text-to-Speech Editing
Powered by a robust speech synthesis engine, Listnr’s text-to-speech editor can be deployed in a number of scenarios. Whether it is just your podcasts that you need help with or you are looking for voiceovers for your videos, explainers, or presentations, it has got your back. This feature uses SSML technology in combination with Listnr’s proprietary UX to create a frictionless experience for the user.
Aside from custom pauses and pronunciations that we discussed earlier, Listnr’s Text-to-Speech Editor also lets you add more than one speaker to your voiceovers. Isn’t that something?
And hey, you can export all your podcasts and voiceovers in .mp3 and .wav (preferred) formats.
Podcast Hosting
Even if you don’t need an AI voice for your podcast, you can still host it with Listnr. Why should you, you might ask? Well, it is because of the absolute simplicity of the process. Plus, you get to distribute your podcast to all the major outlets including Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Audible, Deezer, and Pandora. Multi-channel distribution ensures that your content has a good chance to reach a wider audience. And did we tell you that with a paid plan on Listnr, you can enjoy commercial distribution rights? Something to think about.
Transcription
More often than not as marketers and business professionals, we find use for transcriptions. It could be for taking notes during a Zoom meeting or creating captions for any marketing content. Although there are options out there, it couldn't hurt to have this feature on a platform that you are already using or thinking of using. And Listnr does a fine job when it comes to transcribing audio to text. It is only cherry on top that there is support for over 50 languages and you can download transcripts as text files.
API Access
If you happen to listen to podcasts from major productions, you may have noticed something. These companies not only distribute their content to popular streaming channels but also embed it on their websites. It is perfect for reaching your audience wherever they are.
Well, you can take advantage of this technique too. With Listnr’s API access, you can embed fully customizable and fast-loading audio and text-to-speech widgets anywhere you want.
Pros and Cons
Here are some pros and cons of using Listnr for audio content production:
Pros
A wide array of accents and versatile voices
Custom pronunciation library
Multi-language support
Multi-channel distribution
Automated transcripts
Audio player and text-to-speech APIs
Cons
Potential lack of emotion usually seen in human speech
Occasional failure to adapt to context in the content
Pricing
Listnr has five pricing plans - Free, Student ($9/month), Individual ($19/month), Solo ($39/month), and Agency ($99/month). A thing to admire about this pricing is its flexibility to any requirements. If you are a beginner with light usage needs, you can get started on the Free plan. And even if you are an agency looking to create half a million words worth of audio content each month, $99 is not overpriced.
There is also a one-time payment plan that only costs $29 and gives you access to 30k words worth of content. It is perfect for professionals who plan to use Listnr just once and don’t want to have any strings attached.
Final Verdict
Considering everything, Listnr is a versatile and pocket-friendly tool for audio content creation. It has some features that are not commonly seen in similar tools, for example, a custom pronunciation library and Canva integration. Besides, there is support for multi-channel distribution in over 142 languages. However, be warned that the AI voices don’t sound exactly human-like. It is understandable that there will be some differences between a human and a digitally synthesized voice. And in this case, it is not easily distinguishable.
Also, if you are looking to create both audio and video content, you should probably avoid using Listnr. Your best option may be a tool like Descript. At the end of the day, the choice is yours. We would recommend trying out the free version before making up your mind.