Podcasting in India 🇮🇳

Plus, Podcast Bestie celebrates its 2nd anniversary

Hello Besties!

Today is the two-year anniversary of Podcast Bestie. This has been an awesome sandbox for me over the past two years, as I’m always trying to be a better podcaster. I hope it’s also been a helpful resource for all of you. Today, I’m marking the occasion without much fanfare, but later this month, I will unpack what I've learned from growing this newsletter (and podcast) on Substack, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, I have a brief Q&A with Aakshi Sinha that will broaden your horizons. After interviewing her for the podcast earlier this year, I realized I missed an opportunity to ask about podcasting in India, where she’s from. I’ve since followed up with her and I'm going to share her answers with you today.

But first, I want to share a job post from Podglomerate. They are looking for a Partner Manager. If you’re good at monetization and managing relationships, this job might be a good fit for you! Working with Jeff Umbro and Joni Deutsch sounds like a dream. By the way, congrats to the Podglomerate team on season two of Missing Pages, out now!

Now let’s take a trip to India with Aakshi for a quick primer on podcasting in the second most populous country in the world.

I'm so curious about podcasting in India. You're pretty tapped into the global podcasting community, but how would you describe the local scene? 

Honestly, I am still learning what the industry looks like here. Radio is still significant for many people in India, but podcasts are rapidly becoming more popular. There are many new ones started by people working in the startup world and many chart-topping ones that are religious, covering various scriptures. There are also many similarities with trends in the U.S., like popular celebrity-hosted, comedy, and true-crime podcasts.

Apart from the recent rise of Spotify original podcasts made for an Indian audience, the three podcast production companies I have been very interested in that have significantly contributed to experimenting and creating diverse, multilingual content in this space are Maed In India, Suno India, and IVM. It's exciting to see the increasing numbers of podcast listeners and the room for creativity from creators here! 

Any notable podcasts out of India that Besties should have on their radar?

Three immediately come to mind: 

1. City of Women: This beautifully covers the lengths women in India go just to have fun. For the Besties, I want to point out that they did a feed swap with Other Men Need Help, featuring a great example of what a good intro and episode choice for a trade like this could look like on both sides (listen here and here). Shoutout to Podcast The Newsletter for introducing me to this show!

2. Maed In India: When young people in India think of podcasts, this is probably the first one that comes to mind. Mae's funny and thoughtful interviews with musicians from around the country at different career stages are just iconic. 

3. Desi Stones and Bones: I don't think this is running anymore, but it was one of the first Indian podcasts I fell in love with. It's an archaeology podcast about ancient humans and fossils. 

Thank you, Aakski!

➡️ Connect with Aakshi @aaklovesaudio on Twitter/X.

➡️ Listen to her interview on Podcast Bestie or watch the YouTube version here.

P.S. I want to do this as a series! If you are interested in giving the Besties a tour of podcasting in your country, anywhere outside the U.S., please reply to this email and let me know.

Your briefing on podcasting industry news

• Podhome, a new v2.0 podcast host, launches: RSS.com sells streaming rights; Audio Hijack adds transcription; good bye Zach

• Payne Lindsey’s new weekly podcast: Acast moves closer to profitability, and goodbye Coronacast

• Theo Von now has the #5 podcast in the US: Audacy reckons brands are playing it too safe

• Spoken Word audio is now more popular than ever: And - an exclusive: YouTube rolls out RSS support to the YouTube Music app

• Spotify: Video podcasts are more popular at night: Spotify also launches audiobooks in the US, and Podcon MX gets ready to start

These quick hits are courtesy of Podnews editor James Cridland, who happened to be the first-ever guest on Podcast Bestie, the Podcast. Listen to his episode!

Tips and tricks to help your podcast stand out

• Why I Paywall Podcasts - Substack reposted this interesting reflection by Ethan Strauss of House of Strauss on the benefits of paywalling his podcast.

• How Jack Rhysider Creates Darknet Diaries - Despite Jack Rhysider not showing his face or background for privacy reasons, this was a very transparent interview with a successful podcaster on Buzzsprout Conversations. I highly recommend giving it a listen (or, rather, watch on YouTube!). Hat-tip to Josh Taylor of The Wild West Extravaganza for bumping this on my Twitter feed.

• How I got 10x YouTube subscribers by adding video to my podcast - Oooo, I love a super nerdy process breakdown like Ashley Hamer’s latest for the Descript Creator HQ blog about how she upgraded her podcast’s video game and 10x’d her YouTube subscriber count.

• Podcast Marketing Trends 2023 Report - Some fascinating (and disappointing) findings in this report from Jeremy Enns. He said: “While the project took a lot longer than I had initially hoped, we ended up collecting 500+ responses to our survey with hundreds of creators sharing a month by month breakdown of their download numbers over the previous year, and after analyzing the results, the finished report is now complete. The report primarily explores the differences between big vs small shows’ approaches to marketing, as well as those between high-growth vs low-growth shows. Personally, I found the results to be both illuminating… and in some cases, more than a little depressing.” Agreed!

• 5 Things That ARE Working On Instagram Right Now - On The Goal Digger Podcast, Jenna Kutcher outlined what’s currently working on Instagram, which can help inform your podcast promotion strategy for social media.

Now offering classified and sponsorship packages, including podcast ads!

• Step into the world of Multitudes by Nicole Carter. Filled with beautiful conversations with diverse guests sharing their journeys, passions, and transformative insights. Season 2 is coming soon! Check out multitudespodcast.com and subscribe to Multitudes wherever you listen to podcasts.

These ads provide vital support for this newsletter!
Click here for info and rates.

Private Parts Unknown and The Bleeders episodes, work stuff, guest spots, etc.

• Private Parts Unknown: Choose Your Own Pleasure Path with Amy Baldwin & April Lambert of Shameless Sex - This episode celebrates the book launch of Shameless Sex co-hosts Amy and April. Preorder their book to Choose YOUR Own Pleasure Path!

• The Bleeders: How Chelsea Martin Strikes the Balance Between Prolific & Perfectionist - I re-ran this episode with the brilliant and wholly unique author Chelsea Martin because it offers so many writing reminders I desperately need at the moment. (Periodic re-runs have become a cornerstone of my editorial strategy; more on this in a future issue.)

So… ROLL CALL! 🗣

Do YOU have a favorite podcast from India? Share it in the comments below!

Please share this newsletter with a podcasting friend and help Podcast Bestie reach its two-year anniversary goal of 4K subscribers. 👯

Follow me @courtneykocak on Twitter and Instagram. For more, check out my website courtneykocak.com.

💸 Wanna advertise on Podcast Bestie? Here’s info about offerings and rates.