“The Brain Is the Biggest Erogenous Zone”—This Might Be Something.
I came across a fascinating interview with the CEO of the audio-porn app Quinn, so I pulled together the parts that resonated with me: a product that bets on stories and imagination instead of visuals, and why there is still plenty of open space in audio AI.
This was a 2022 article from VOGUE JAPAN. It happened to come across my feed, and when I read it, I found it incredibly interesting: an interview with Caroline Spiegel, CEO of the audio-porn app Quinn.
“The brain is the biggest erogenous zone”
That line resonated with me the most. The idea is that, especially for women, the brain is the biggest erogenous zone.
The numbers she cites make the point clear. Of Quinn’s female account holders, only one in 50 has registered with a porn site. But nine out of 10 read romance novels. Compared with video, stories and imagination are a far more powerful driver.
When you put it that way, it makes sense. In a market full of products that go all-in on visuals, betting on the ears and the imagination might be something.
It started for women and ultimately became for everyone
The service originally began with the goal of fundamentally changing pornography, which had so often been made through a male-centered lens, by building it for women.
But once it launched, it found an audience across many sexual orientations. It also works with creators of all genders—women, men, and nonbinary people—and offers a wide range of material, from sweet scenarios to more BDSM-leaning content.
I liked the explanation that “mood shifts—wanting gentle content one day and something intense the next—are completely normal even within a single person’s mind.” It is also interesting as a product story: something designed for a tightly defined audience can ultimately reach a much broader one.
Ignore what you think you’re supposed to like
This was the most practically useful part for me.
What she tells people who are unsure of their sexual orientation is: “Ignore the idea that you should like something.” Rather than judging whether something is right or wrong, approach it by generously accepting and nurturing your own curiosity.
Let go of all the pressure and be kind to yourself. That feels useful far beyond the subject of sex.
About Quinn
An “audio erotica” app founded in 2019. In its first six months after launch, revenue reportedly grew 70% month over month, and it now has hundreds of thousands of users. Its policy is to encourage free sexual expression while excluding content involving non-consensual sex or minors.
Caroline, the CEO, was forced to leave college because of sexual dysfunction stemming from an eating disorder. That experience led her to create an app aimed at removing the taboo around pleasure. She is also apparently the younger sister of Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel.
I think audio is still full of open space
I look at the App Store and Google Play charts every day and turn them into reports, and there are now truly enormous numbers of AI apps. Chat, images, and video are all so crowded that the top rankings change every day.
Audio alone, though, still feels like it has plenty of open space. Text-to-speech and transcription have already become standard, but beyond that—products where listening itself is at the center of the experience—there are still only a handful.
That is exactly where Quinn operates, and it has been a viable business since 2019, independent of the AI boom. It uses human-read audio, bets on imagination, and works as a business. If that is the case, it feels as though no one has properly explored what becomes possible once AI enters that space.
When visual products are crowded, there is still room for the ears. That is another sense in which I thought: this might be something.
The original article is here. All of the figures and quotes come from that source; what I have written here is simply a summary of the parts I found interesting.
Interview & Text: Misaki Yamashita / Editor: Toru Mitani (August 17, 2022)