Road To 2022: Audio Content Consumption Trends that will redefine the podcast industry

Amit Doshi from IVM Podcasts highlights trends foreseen in the audio industry for 2022, changing tides of content consumption, and branded content.

With more people spending hours a day in front of screens, outside of work or education, eye fatigue and visual saturation are driving people to switch to audio content, in the form of music, audiobooks, and podcasts. India has started observing a surge in the number of audio content consumers as podcasting and audio platforms have turned their focus to the county.

With only 12% of the Indian population having listened to a podcast, the market has room for immense growth.

There are several trends that will dominate the way Indians consume audio content in 2022, some of which are discussed below:

Fiction Content

• True Crime is already the most talked about genre of podcasts. In general, fiction podcasts, also known as scripted, narrative, or storytelling podcasts, aim to tell compelling stories in the same way that a nonfiction narrative does—while also harbouring the capacity to entertain in the same vein as a TV show or novel. From gripping to gruesome and emotional to inspiring, there’s something for everyone in the world of fiction podcasts.

Smaller Towns

• The digital revolution has gripped the entire nation, and the smaller towns in India have shown shockingly high numbers of audio content consumption. Just like we saw creators from the non-metros in India gain huge traction on platforms like Instagram, Tik Tok and other platforms, podcasts listening has also permeated the country in a similar way. We’ve seen that the more language content we make, the more listeners from those relevant regions tune in. The listener demographic is no longer limited to an English-speaking city dweller. 

Also Read: Guide: How to leverage Live Audio for marketing

Languages

• While audio is still new to India, there is a huge opportunity for niche customization, offering a large playground to creators from literally anywhere in the country who can speak to and connect intimately with their audience
• We also started experimenting with language shows in 2019 and saw breakthrough success with Kadhai Podcast - Ponniyin Selvan. Essentially, we are starting to see a surge in listeners from tier 2 and 3 towns especially as we push out more non-English language shows.

Dailies and High-Frequency Shows

• With content available to consumers at the touch of a button, people would rather have more content available to them when they have the time to listen instead of waiting for a week or fortnight for new episodes of their favourite podcasts. Its why we went ahead and turn two of our most successful shows Cyrus Says and The Habit Coach Podcast into dailies and there has been no looking back 

Branded Content

• Podcasts offer an opportunity for more brands to have a deeper integration into cultural dialogue. I can’t think of too many other content formats that generate an equivalent amount of genuine loyalty between creator and audience. Moreover, listeners are loyal to their favourite hosts and will likely listen to all or most of the episodes they release. 
• We’re already seeing a lot of brands exploring the power of podcasts whether it’s in the sense of branded shows, whether its sponsorships or ads. Indian advertisers who are realizing the niche audiences they can reach via the sheer variety of podcasts topics that exist

Broad Topic Podcasts

• While certain podcasts cover a niche set of topics hosted by experts in the field, there has been a rise in generic podcasts that cover a broad set of topics. These include ‘topical’ podcasts where current and relevant news is discussed, themed podcasts where every week there is a different theme or industry that is looked into and podcasts that discuss evergreen issues.

This article has been authored by Amit Doshi, Co-Founder, IVM Podcasts as a part of Social Samosa's Road To 2022 series.