Podcast listening is growing in India: Spotify

Audio-streaming platform Spotify conducted a survey with YouGov in India to better understand the listening habits of users. According to the survey, podcasts are gaining popularity among Indian users.

“Podcast listening is growing in India, and this medium is a great way for listeners to discover the enriching and entertaining content they want,” Spotify said in a blog post.

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According to the survey, 46 per cent of the respondents “felt that they have only a bit of time, or none at all, to do the things they liked.” Nearly two-thirds of the respondents wanted more time for activities like general entertainment, relaxation, or learning new things. This is where podcasts helped listeners relax. The platform also gained many first-time podcast listeners this year.

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Night versus afternoon

“18-24-year-olds formed the largest audience of those who listened to a podcast on Spotify the first time this year,” as per the survey.

The survey further detailed the listening habits of users in India. According to the report, 50 per cent of listeners prefer to listen to one episode of a podcast per week. “Night is the most popular time of day for podcast listening, and afternoon is the least popular,” it added.

Spotify also witnessed a growth in Hindi-language podcasts on its platform Anchor in India. “We've seen a 1,100 per cent year-on-year growth in Hindi podcast on Anchor,” Spotify said.

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The survey also found that 62 per cent of the respondents feel that listening to personalities (celebs, experts, etc) makes them feel closer to the host.

Most popular

“Our annual Wrapped campaign, which looks at what listeners have been enjoying over the past year, shows that the country’s podcast listening trends align closely with the YouGov survey results: Indians prefer inspiring content that teaches them something new,” Spotify said.

Earlier this month, Spotify released a list of the most popular podcasts on the platform in India as part of its Wrapped campaign. The most popular podcast genres among users in India on Spotify were ‘Education’, followed by ‘Lifestyle & Health’, ‘Society & Culture’, ‘Arts & Entertainment’, and ‘Business & Technology.’

The most-streamed podcasts on Spotify in India this year were “TED Talks Daily, The Ranveer Show,” and “On Purpose with Jay Shetty”. Spotify India Original “Maha Bharat with Dhruv Rathee” also made it to the list, along with “7 Good Minutes Daily Self-Improvement” podcast with Clyde Lee Dennis.

Anchor-powered Telugu podcast PURIJAGANNADH also featured among the Top 10 most-streamed podcasts in India on Spotify in 2020.