Audio platforms bet big on podcasts with new tie-ups

New Delhi: Audio streaming platforms are increasingly looking at podcasts to expand the user base and ring in the next phase of growth.

While podcast genre is at a nascent stage in India, audio streaming services say partnering with video streaming services and publishers to adapt audio formats of books and web shows will draw listeners.

Audible, an audio streaming platform owned by Amazon, for instance, has collaborated with The Viral Fever and Dice Media for their shows. Executives said it will help them cash in on popularity of existing IPs but there are challenges on offering something new to users as an audio narration of a video may not attract new users.

“The audio format is unique and provides a portable yet immersive experience to the listeners, offering a break from on- screen entertainment. Known IPs are a great way to engage with fans as storylines are new, simultaneously allowing them to experience magic of audio storytelling, besides, encouraging their imagination to build stories,” said Shailesh Sawlani, country manager, India, Audible. Adding a variation to the story (through an audio), helps build on the love that the series received and offers audiences an extension of what they have experienced till now, he said.

The firm also released books for James Bond series like Casino Royale and Live and Let Die in Hindi and is looking at more collaborations.

The company has seen 39% growth in listening hours in India in the past year, Karen Appathurai Wiggins, head of content, Asia-Pacific, Audible, said. The company has partnered with Penguin Random House, Pan Macmillan, HarperCollins and Hachette, as well as local publishers Srishti, Hind Yugm, Manjul, Rupa and Rajpal, and has entered into an agreement with digital storytelling platform, Pratilipi, to adapt their titles across genres like romance, horror, thriller and mystery for exclusive distribution, she said.

“Even if a content receives validation in one format it may not guarantee that it will work for another,” said Amit Doshi, head, IVM podcasts, Pratilipi.

There are challenges considering that each medium is different and execution matters a great deal, he added.

IVM, which was acquired by Pratilipi in 2020, is in various stages of talks on adaptations or companion pieces for audio.

The costs of acquisition can also vary from a couple of lakhs to a couple of crores depending on how big an IP is. Therefore, platforms usually prefer a revenue-sharing model.

It is important for audio services to remember that adaptations are still in an early stage and await validation from listeners, said Ashu Behl, senior vice-president, content and strategy, Pocket FM, an audio series platform. It is talking to writers to adapt their work for audio series.

While it may make sense to adapt existing success stories, there are complications to IP ownership and podcasts in India are yet to guarantee full monetization plans for acquisitions, said Sreeraman Thiagarajan, chief executive officer, aawaz.com, a podcast and spoken-word network.