Spotify launches Original Podcasts in a move to increase user engagement

World’s largest audio streaming company Spotify on Tuesday launched its first set of original podcasts as it seeks to get higher engagement from Indian listeners.

“Our research shows that podcast listeners spend twice as much time on the platform as compared with people who come to listen to just music. We started our podcast journey about two years ago and since then we have over 500,000 podcasts on Spotify and 140,000 podcast creators. We believe everyone has a story to tell and our platform gives people that opportunity to narrate their stories,” Amarjit Singh Batra, Managing Director – India, Spotify, told BusinessLine.

To begin with, Spotify will have three original podcasts. Tapping into pop culture, cricket centric ‘22 Yarns with Gaurav Kapur’, fiction thriller ‘Bhaskar Bose’ narrated by Mantra, and love and relationship advice-based ‘Love Aaj Kal’ by Aastha & Ankit, will go live on Spotify on December 3.