The inflection point for podcasts in India

Increasingly, as I travel in the metro for work, I see many fellow travelers listen to music or podcasts on their earphones vs earlier scrolling and watching videos on the phone. We have so much dead time during travel through traffic, while working out, taxi drivers when working, and so on. Podcasts are probably the best bet to grow, designed for multitasking. Over the last year, I'm quite hooked myself with the quality of content available on podcast platforms like Spotify.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲

It all started when two friends — a video jockey and a software developer — wanted to download the online radio shows to an iPod. Adam Curry (former MTV VJ) and Dave Winer (software developer) extracted audio files with the help of RSS and a program namely ‘iPodder’ invented by Curry, and transferred them to an iPod. This is how they could listen to the radio shows whenever they wanted and on their iPods.

In an article in The Guardian written by Ben Hammersley, broadcaster and systems developer, the word ‘podcast’ was first used to describe this audio storytelling format. The name is derived from two words ‘iPod’ + ‘broadcast’ and that is how we know it today!

𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲

The growing popularity of podcasts took after 2014 when a new format of narrative podcasts began, especially true crime shows. Instead of waiting weekly to listen to their favourite shows on the radio, people started enjoying this new technology of tuning into their favourite shows whenever. India is the third-largest country, after the U.S.A. & China, with over 56 million monthly podcast listeners, according to PwC’s Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2020–24 report.Since the arrival of podcasts, learning has become accessible and interesting. One can find a podcast on any subject from chemistry, physics, and mathematics to history, psychology, economics, etc.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭

- Industry evolution: In my opinion, rising popularity of podcasts will soon kill the radio, much like OTT killing television

- New business models of education and entertainment will emerge. Subscription-based models, particularly for educational and professional development content, are gaining traction. Platforms like Khabri and Pocket FM have successfully implemented micro-payment systems for premium content.

- Brand building: Increasingly, companies will use podcasts to engage with their audience and build a brand. We already see some of this play out with founders formed creators with shows such as Barbershop by Shantanu Deshpande at Bombay Shaving Company