The total addressable opportunity for the global audio series market in 2023 was estimated at a staggering $21-25 billion, with projections indicating a doubling in value by 2027, according to a report released on Wednesday, February 21.
An audio series, often referred to as a podcast series, is a sequential collection of audio episodes centred around a specific theme or subject matter, spanning various genres such as news, storytelling, interviews, education, comedy, or fiction. In India alone, the format is projected to grow from 350 million users in 2023 to 540 million users by 2027.
In the report titled 'Ear-It-All: The Booming World of Audio Series," Redseer Strategy Consultants said the format, which emerged nearly two decades after the inception of audio streaming in 2001, is capitalising on the growing allure of serialised audio fiction.
According to the report, over the past two years, the adoption of audio series has surged across both developed and emerging markets, with India and the US leading the charge. Globally, the market is experiencing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 640%, implying over a 40-fold increase between 2021 and 2023.
“Although it is relatively nascent as an entertainment format, audio series is garnering twice the engagement of music globally and is nearing that of video streaming, which is currently the highest in the media & entertainment sector. With a growing degree of user maturity, engagement on audio series platforms is also seen to increase,” it said.
Factors such as content quality, variety, and flexibility in listening times are said to have made the format increasingly accessible to users. While users express satisfaction with personalised recommendation tools, there is a growing demand for better pricing and flexible payment options.
In terms of popularity and key entry points for listenership, audio series in India boast a net promoter score (NPS) of 55%, with the majority of listeners identifying as promoters. Platforms like Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Pocket FM have high sentiment scores, driven by customer satisfaction and positive experiences with newer formats.
Despite the nascent stage of the format, the audio series landscape in India already has a notable 10-11% of paid users as of 2023, with micropayment packs driving growth in this demographic.
According to Redseer, there is a significant opportunity for monetisation through advertising, as subscription and content monetisation models contribute to over 90% of the revenue generated by audio series.
(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)
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