What is common between Navya Naveli Nanda, Sejal Kumar and Ahsaas Channa? From What The Hell Nayva, Shutup Sejal to Dear Teenage Methese up-and-coming Gen Z stars host unique podcasts that offer fresh insight into life, love, relationships and more, building a fan base that only grows by the minute.
True crime, fodder for travelogues – a hyper-visual Gen Z is increasingly turning to audio content for knowledge, perspective and entertainment. The generation that scrolls past an Instagram feed and forgets about it the next minute seems to have found a keeper in podcasts.
For Millenials, the generation that witnessed the growth of FM and radio jockeys, podcasts are the next natural choice. “We’ve heard it all, from Akashvani, “cool” radio jockeys and now, podcasts, says 29-year-old Neeta Sharma, who bonds with her younger sister over new audio content. Her favorites include Respectfully disagree, a weekly culture podcast from Swaddle.
According to a PwC Global Entertainment and Media Outlook study, India has third largest podcast listener base globally, just behind the US and China, a number expected to rise to 17.61 million by 2023. It’s no surprise then that a significant portion of podcast listeners are Gen Z and millennials.
Riya, Neeta’s sister, loves both Navya’s show and The swaddle disagrees with respect. She also listens to the podcast of influencer siblings Kritika and Deeksha Khurrana called what’s up sister We both relate to the subjects shared by the two siblings. We listen to it together, as a ritual every week,” says Riya.
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The next big thing
While Spotify and Apple Music have turned into inclusive spaces where conversation is welcome, music continues to remain a popular choice. According to Spotify Culture next report, 80 percent of Gen Zs have felt “more centered and generally happier” when listening to their favorite music on a daily basis, while 68 percent of Gen Zs and 84 percent of millennials say music is a “gateway to other cultures.” It’s no surprise that 23-year-old Abhay Arora’s Spotify account has 16 thousand followers. His playlists like Me and who When we go clubbing together, and Indie Savior is a big hit among his followers.
Arora’s popularity comes from That music project, his personal Instagram page with nearly three lakh followers. It was a natural progression from the video sharing app to the audio app.
On November 5 this year, Spotify organized ‘Spotify IRL’ in Mumbai. This event brought together podcasters, video creators and artists to interact with each other through panel discussions, quizzes and music.
“While all generations fondly look back on past eras, Z’s is reinventing nostalgia. With the instability of the past few years, nostalgia has proven to provide a sense of comfort amid uncertainty for this generation,” said Arjun Kolady, Head of Ad Sales, Spotify India.
Creators find it cheaper to start a podcast. From free platforms to a lack of trust in aesthetic backgrounds, podcasting is a much more manageable side hustle for most people.
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Love, teenage angst and learning
Ahsaas Channa host Dear Teenage Me, a podcast with episodes under 10 minutes, where celebrities talk to their teenage versions. “Podcasts feel more personal, and listening to them makes you feel less alone. Podcasts are almost like therapy for me,” says the 23-year-old, who started his career as a child actor and is now a regular face on OTT platforms.
Sometimes it’s also about having “meaningful” conversations that a 30-second reel can’t capture. The absence of “viral trends” from audio platforms also adds an element of surprise to podcasts. Instead, hosts rely on cliffhangers to create an air of mystery and focus on making their content feel more personal.
“I listen to Modern love podcast. It feels really intimate like these were real people talking about their dates and love stories,” says Srishti Garg, a student at the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) in Jodhpur. Garg is known to her If Gen Z did XYZ series on Instagram, and having her own podcast is a goal she has set for herself.
There is also the element of learning something new. “If you give 30 minutes of your life to a podcast, you might learn something from it. I wonder if we learn from a 30-second reel of ‘a day in Delhi,'” says Abhay Arora. An avalanche of visual content drives Gen Z to seek other forms of digital interaction, and podcasts suit many.
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A “safe” space
Podcasts have become the space to explore in detail avenues that are still considered ‘niche’ in India. Esports, or online gaming, is a fast-growing industry, with 100 million people takes to it in 2020. Still, it almost inevitably relies on players and streamers from other countries for information, interaction, and even community building. However, podcasts have brought about a change.
“I listen to Mythpath because I am an avid gamer. But India’s gaming scene, even within Gen Z, is quite nascent. Mythpath helps me know more about all the new happenings in the gaming industry,” says 21-year-old Noorie, who prefers to use only her first name. Noorie is just one of gaming content creator Mithilesh Patankar’s team, whose social media following runs into millions.
Loyalty is a unique quality of podcasts, one that is no longer guaranteed on Instagram. Despite scrolls easily crossing thousands of views per minute, the numbers don’t translate into actual engagement metrics. Since it’s all about the numbers, Instagrammers say there’s a constant pressure to follow trends to increase posts and grow followers. “We see ourselves in terms of numbers, and we value ourselves in numbers,” says Srishti Garg.
According to the MIDAS survey of summer 2022, a majority of podcast listeners—that’s 68 percent—listen to the entire episode, while 70 percent listen to almost every episode they’ve downloaded.
The rapid advent of social media over the past decade has allowed FOMO (fear of missing out) to creep into conversations. Podcasts are now considered a haven for those who need affirmations to slow down rather than rush through life.
There is no doubt that podcasts are not yet at the stage where you listen to them every day, but a gradual and steady growth is evident. With more and more people becoming first-time consumers, podcasts are slowly reaching their “gold rush” phase.
“There are too many ‘inspirational’ stories on social media sometimes that make you feel terrible for ‘wasting’ time watching Netflix or even doing nothing. Listening to podcasts, which are real, raw and often unfiltered about everything, be it life or relationships, helps fight the urge to constantly screw up, says 21-year-old student Ila. Ila felt especially left out when her friends shared content from parties and vacations while she took extra classes to make up for a month of missed study due to illness For Gen Zs like Ila, podcasts feel like an understanding older sibling, wiser Gen Z counterpart, or an equally confused version of themselves—a virtual entity that feels real and doesn’t judge.
(Editing by Zoya Bhatti)
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