When Medium first debuted its paid subscription option in March, it wasn’t entirely clear what perks members would get for $5 a month. Sure, it promised early access, exclusive content, and an offline reading queue, but by and large, it didn’t seem as though there was anything truly unique about the paid version of Medium that you couldn’t get with the free version. But now, there might be a feature that will convince you to shell out those $60 a year. Medium has now launched audio stories — audio versions of stories that were written exclusively for their members, as well as some of the most popular content on the blogging site.
Don’t worry — this won’t sound like Siri or Alexa attempting to read you a bedtime story. Rather, Medium notes that these audio stories will be professional recordings from real voice artists. Or, if appropriate, the author him or herself could be the one delivering the spoken word.
“Listen to audio versions of every member-exclusive story, as well as other top stories on Medium selected by our editors,” Medium urges on its membership page. “Our audio content is designed to give you a direct, emotional version of each story with professionally recorded narrations — no automated voices allowed.”
The debut of this new audio feature presents more than 50 stories, and Medium plans to add more content each and every week moving forward. Whether you’re looking to access these recordings on your phone or on your desktop, you’re set to go, as audio stories are available on both the iOS and Android apps.
Medium also told TechCrunch that there are plans “to do more with audio in the future,” and similarly, to continue increasing the suite of exclusive features members have access to. So if you didn’t see a reason to pay for it before, the time may be coming to become a Medium member.
