From the blog of Sierra FoodWineArt magazine:
We’re pleased to announce we’ve teamed up with our digital publishing partner to offer an audio version of Sierra FoodWineArt’s summer issue, now circulating throughout the region.
Every story from our print magazine is recreated as an audio story. When a reader opens our digital edition on their smartphone, they can choose the audio icon on the story to begin listening.
Whether you’re cooking dinner, going for a walk, or on your commute, hit play and listen to your selected article from our summer issue read out loud.
We plan to roll this out as a permanent feature with future issues. It is free, just like our print and digital versions.
Offering our magazine in an audio format is part of our ongoing effort to explore cutting-edge features to expand readership — or in this case “listenership.”
Other examples include our scrollable, digital version for smartphones; our digital “flip book” with embedded video and audio links; and republishing our stories on the Medium platform.
Digital audiobooks and audio articles are now the fastest-growing content format as tech and titles improve.
Millennial audio consumption is booming, with the demographic listening to audio of more types, at more times, and in more places than any other generation. According to an Ipsos-iHeartRadio study, Americans of all ages listen to an average of 17.2 hours of audio per week, with millennials topping the list at 18.8 hours per week. Baby boomers come in at 15 hours per week.
Our digital publisher Blue Toad is using new voice technology offered through Amazon’s Polly service – one in the style of a traditional newscaster. Amazon Polly is a service that turns text into lifelike speech, allowing you to create applications that talk, and build entirely new categories of speech-enabled products.
(Photo: Juja Han on Unsplash)
Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report 