Should I Build It Should I Build It
19 Apr 2025
Audio

I would like to be a sound engineer that records audio books, I will ...

...have minimal equipment but the best of industry standard microphones and audio interfaces.

Confidence
Engagement
Net use signal
Net buy signal

Idea type: Swamp

The market has seen several mediocre solutions that nobody loves. Unless you can offer something fundamentally different, you’ll likely struggle to stand out or make money.

Should You Build It?

Don't build it.

Your are here

Entering the sound engineering market, specifically for audiobook recording, positions you in a challenging 'Swamp' category. This means there are already many solutions, and it's difficult to stand out unless you offer something radically different. With 14 similar products identified, competition is significant. Engagement in similar product launches is low, averaging only 3 comments per launch, suggesting limited enthusiasm or niche appeal. Since we don't have any specific use or buy signals, it will be difficult to make this work without strong differentiators. You'll need a compelling unique selling proposition to rise above the noise and carve out a viable space for your services. The audiobook market needs something other companies are not providing, and you need to figure out how to do that.

Recommendations

  1. Begin by deeply researching why existing sound engineering services for audiobooks haven't fully satisfied the market. What are the common complaints from authors, narrators, and publishers? Understanding these pain points is crucial for identifying unmet needs and differentiating your services.
  2. Focus on a specific niche within the audiobook market that you can serve exceptionally well. Perhaps you specialize in recording audiobooks for indie authors, self-help guides, or a particular genre like science fiction or romance. Narrowing your focus allows you to tailor your services and marketing efforts effectively.
  3. Instead of directly competing with established sound engineers, consider creating tools or resources that support them. This could involve developing specialized audio editing software, offering training workshops on audiobook recording techniques, or building a platform that connects authors with qualified sound engineers.
  4. Given the competitive landscape, explore adjacent audio production problems that may be more promising. For example, podcast editing, voiceover work, or audio restoration services could offer better opportunities for growth and profitability.
  5. Thoroughly investigate the pricing strategies of your competitors and potential customers in similar spaces. The Teenage Engineering TP-7 recorder faced criticism for its high price point. Clearly understand what premium people are willing to pay for the services you're offering.
  6. Study the launch of ElevenLabs' Projects; the primary criticism was the absence of a product demo in the launch video. Make sure to create demos of you providing your service and/or before and after samples of your work.
  7. Take note of Xound.io and consider their praises for noise reduction, pitch correction, and ease of use, particularly for content creators. Create value propositions that are tailored towards creators and other adjacent demographics.

Questions

  1. What specific, underserved needs exist within the audiobook recording market that your services can uniquely address?
  2. How can you leverage your minimal equipment and industry-standard microphones to offer a demonstrably superior recording quality compared to competitors?
  3. What innovative pricing model can you implement to attract clients while ensuring profitability and sustainability in a competitive market?

Your are here

Entering the sound engineering market, specifically for audiobook recording, positions you in a challenging 'Swamp' category. This means there are already many solutions, and it's difficult to stand out unless you offer something radically different. With 14 similar products identified, competition is significant. Engagement in similar product launches is low, averaging only 3 comments per launch, suggesting limited enthusiasm or niche appeal. Since we don't have any specific use or buy signals, it will be difficult to make this work without strong differentiators. You'll need a compelling unique selling proposition to rise above the noise and carve out a viable space for your services. The audiobook market needs something other companies are not providing, and you need to figure out how to do that.

Recommendations

  1. Begin by deeply researching why existing sound engineering services for audiobooks haven't fully satisfied the market. What are the common complaints from authors, narrators, and publishers? Understanding these pain points is crucial for identifying unmet needs and differentiating your services.
  2. Focus on a specific niche within the audiobook market that you can serve exceptionally well. Perhaps you specialize in recording audiobooks for indie authors, self-help guides, or a particular genre like science fiction or romance. Narrowing your focus allows you to tailor your services and marketing efforts effectively.
  3. Instead of directly competing with established sound engineers, consider creating tools or resources that support them. This could involve developing specialized audio editing software, offering training workshops on audiobook recording techniques, or building a platform that connects authors with qualified sound engineers.
  4. Given the competitive landscape, explore adjacent audio production problems that may be more promising. For example, podcast editing, voiceover work, or audio restoration services could offer better opportunities for growth and profitability.
  5. Thoroughly investigate the pricing strategies of your competitors and potential customers in similar spaces. The Teenage Engineering TP-7 recorder faced criticism for its high price point. Clearly understand what premium people are willing to pay for the services you're offering.
  6. Study the launch of ElevenLabs' Projects; the primary criticism was the absence of a product demo in the launch video. Make sure to create demos of you providing your service and/or before and after samples of your work.
  7. Take note of Xound.io and consider their praises for noise reduction, pitch correction, and ease of use, particularly for content creators. Create value propositions that are tailored towards creators and other adjacent demographics.

Questions

  1. What specific, underserved needs exist within the audiobook recording market that your services can uniquely address?
  2. How can you leverage your minimal equipment and industry-standard microphones to offer a demonstrably superior recording quality compared to competitors?
  3. What innovative pricing model can you implement to attract clients while ensuring profitability and sustainability in a competitive market?

  • Confidence: High
    • Number of similar products: 14
  • Engagement: Low
    • Average number of comments: 3
  • Net use signal: 14.4%
    • Positive use signal: 14.4%
    • Negative use signal: 0.0%
  • Net buy signal: 1.7%
    • Positive buy signal: 1.7%
    • Negative buy signal: 0.0%

This chart summarizes all the similar products we found for your idea in a single plot.

The x-axis represents the overall feedback each product received. This is calculated from the net use and buy signals that were expressed in the comments. The maximum is +1, which means all comments (across all similar products) were positive, expressed a willingness to use & buy said product. The minimum is -1 and it means the exact opposite.

The y-axis captures the strength of the signal, i.e. how many people commented and how does this rank against other products in this category. The maximum is +1, which means these products were the most liked, upvoted and talked about launches recently. The minimum is 0, meaning zero engagement or feedback was received.

The sizes of the product dots are determined by the relevance to your idea, where 10 is the maximum.

Your idea is the big blueish dot, which should lie somewhere in the polygon defined by these products. It can be off-center because we use custom weighting to summarize these metrics.

Similar products

Relevance

Projects by ElevenLabs - Structure, edit, and generate long-form audio with precision

14 Nov 2024 Artificial Intelligence Audio

Creators, publishers and businesses use projects to turn books into audiobooks, scripts into voiceovers, or any text into high quality multi-speaker dialogue.

Users inquired about the availability of a demo location, noting its absence in the launch video. Questions were raised about the possibility of using multiple voices, not just one. The launch received congratulations, with additional inquiries focusing on the tool's potential for creative writing and storytelling applications.

The primary criticism is the absence of a product demo in the launch video. This lack of visual demonstration hinders understanding and engagement with the product.

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