Documentation
About LISTEN
LISTEN is a place where people can connect
—not by shouting, but by simply being themselves, in their own voice.
Sometimes, it's only when we speak out loud that we begin to understand what we’re feeling.
Sometimes, it's only by listening to someone else’s voice that we truly feel, “Now I get it.”
But in a world where speaking often means broadcasting,
and listening means consuming,
that kind of gentle dialogue can be hard to find.
So LISTEN was created with a simple hope:
to bring dialogue back into the world—
through voice, the most human form of connection we have.
To feel connected, even when you’re alone.
To feel like a conversation still lingers in the room, even after it ends.
LISTEN offers that kind of space, through the medium of podcasts.
Voice may be the smallest kind of “home.”
A space where you can speak as you are,
and listen to someone else, just as they are.
A medium with just enough space between people for something real to happen.
LISTEN brings those small acts of talking and listening
back into our everyday lives.
✨ Adding a gentle layer of structure to the world of voice
There’s something in a voice—
a feeling, a pause, a breath—that text alone can’t quite hold.
That’s why voices help soften the distance between people.
But listening takes time.
Finding the right voice can be hard.
So we gently add a few tools to the world of voice—
transcripts, chapters, search, sharing—
to make reading and listening feel more naturally connected.
That was where LISTEN began.
For those who speak, and those who listen,
we want to offer a space where you can move at your own pace—
to talk without pressure, and to listen with ease.
LISTEN is a platform built not just for podcasts,
but for everyday acts of speaking and listening—
the ones that light up quiet corners of our lives.
Features of LISTEN
Automated Transcription by AI
We utilize the latest AI to automatically transcribe the audio of registered podcasts into text. You can also use features like automatic chaptering based on content, speaker separation to identify multiple speakers, and summary generation to provide an overall synopsis. If the transcribed text is incorrect, you can manually correct it.
*Transcription and speaker separation are available for all episodes, while chaptering and summary generation are available for the latest episodes only.
Share Feature for Any Section
The transcribed text can be played from any point and you can share any section with text as a permalink on social media. You can share your favorite parts of a program and listen to the program from that point.
Search Feature
You can search the content of transcribed podcasts by text. The search can target all programs registered with LISTEN or specific podcast programs only.
Player Feature
LISTEN has a player feature to play registered podcasts. Playlist functionality for continuous play of multiple programs, speed control, and the ability to listen to podcasts not registered on LISTEN by registering the URL.
The LISTEN website is PWA compatible and you can bookmark the site on your smartphone or tablet's home screen to enjoy it like a smartphone app.
User Features
By registering as a user, you can follow your favorite programs and leave comments. When you register a program, you will receive notifications when new episodes are released, so you won't miss updates to your favorite programs.
Podcasters can register guests other than themselves as performers on their own programs. Programs where you appeared as a guest are listed per user, so you can list them in your performance list.
Star Feature
You can give stars to episodes and comments of podcasts. You can give as many stars as you want to one episode or comment, facilitating interaction between podcasters and listeners.
Privacy Feature
Podcasts have a personal authentication feature to prevent third parties from registering without permission, so your podcast will not be transcribed by a third party. There is also a setting to prevent the text transcribed from being indexed by search engines for podcasters who prefer not to be heard by people other than listeners.
About LISTEN
By transcribing podcasts, it becomes possible to first read the podcast in text and then listen to it if you're interested, making it easier to discover new podcasts.
Also, by using features such as comments and stars, you can convey your thoughts to the podcaster, and by being registered as a performer on guest-appearing programs, you can facilitate communication between listeners and podcasters and even listeners of other podcast programs.
As of the official release on June 21, 2023, all features are available for free. We plan to offer paid options in the future, such as priority processing for transcription, limited release of podcasts, and paid distribution of episodes.
We continue to enhance our features so that everyone who interacts with podcasts on a daily basis, such as podcasters who want to develop new listeners and listeners who want to discover new connections, can experience LISTEN.
Please also check out our official podcast, "LISTEN NEWS (Japanese)" for the latest information.
🎉 Let's get started with LISTEN
LISTEN is available for anyone to start using right away for free.
With a simple interface, all you have to do is upload your audio files, and you can easily begin podcasting.
For podcasters who have already started podcasting on external distribution sites, you can experience various features like transcription just by registering your own RSS.
Please try out LISTEN!