Spotify continues to go big on podcasts as music libraries continue to be more or less the same across audio streaming services. This time, it’s the Bengali podcast market. The company has announced 12 podcasts for its Bengali listeners, giving regional content a big push.
“Today, one out of four Spotify users in India listens to a podcast. This growth is coming from regional content across languages, including Bengali. This is just the beginning of the audio stories revolution here, and we want to be at the forefront of it,” said Dhruvank Vaidya, head of podcasts, Spotify India. “Spotify wants to use audio as a means to celebrate this culture. We believe that audio is for everyone, and we also know how loved detectives and thrillers are by our Bengali listeners, and so, most of the podcasts we have announced, centre around that genre”, he said.
Also, the streaming and podcast service will run a Podcast Lab in partnership with one of the largest Bengali publishers, Patra Bharati. As a part of the collaboration, applicants will have the opportunity to share their podcast ideas, and 200 individuals will be selected as a part of the programme, which includes a hands-on Anchor experience.
In case you are wondering about the size of Spotify, it has over 389 million listeners across 187 markets worldwide. Its podcast audience has nearly doubled since the start of 2019.
The 12 new Bengali podcasts are:
• Bhaskar Bose-er Odhbut Katha (thriller): With Srijon Gupta as Bhaskar Bose, and Supratim Sinha as Inspector Bikesh
• The Adventures of Anilikha (thriller): With Anisha Kalyani as Anilikha, and Kamaleshwar Mukherjee as Mr Pi
• Satya & Co (thriller): With Anujoy Chattopadhyay and Malini Sengupta as the leads
• Mon Khule with Gourab (self-help, motivation): With Gourab Tapadar
• Guru, Bangali Bote! with Poulami (society and culture): With Poulami Nag
• Thriller Land (thriller): With Ranadip Nandy
• Midnight Horror Station (horror): With Sayak Aman
• Pretkotha (horror): With Gourab Tapadar
• Sunday Suspense Bangla (horror, thriller): By Mirchi Bangla
• Eso Golpo Kori (horror): By the Eso Golpo Kori team of Baren and Pritam
• Josh Talks Bengali (motivation)
• Bengali Classics by Arnab (literature)