Gaana plans 3,000 podcasts in 4 months, expects 10 cr streaming per month

Music streaming platform Gaana on Monday said it expects 10 crore podcast streaming per month by March on its platform as it plans to build a portfolio of 3,000 shows in four months, a top company official said.

Gaana has roped in celebrity Ranvijay Singh, Bollywood actress Sunny Leone, stand-up comedian Zakir Khan and a paranormal investigator Jay Alani for developing the shows, Gaana CEO Prashan Agarwal told PTI.

"The existing numbers (of podcast listeners) are very low. Our idea is to get the consumption up to about 1 to 1.5 per cent and then build from there," he said.

"Just to give you a perspective, currently, we do about 3.2 billion streams. On the podcasts, we are looking at getting to about 100 million streams. That could be about 10 crore podcast play-outs per month by March," he added.

The Times Internet Group firm expects to double the number of monthly active users on its platform to 20 crore in the next two years, representing around 50 per cent share of the overall market.

Gaana has started expanding non-music content to enhance user engagement on its platform and attract new users.

The company has started focusing on podcasts after getting traction in three genres -- comedy, storytelling and retro Hindi songs.

"We have launched about 2,000 podcasts or shows. There the marquee shows are -- 'Life Ki Ranneeti' with Ranvijay Singh, Confessions with Sunny Leone, a show with the biggest stand-up comedian in India Zakir Khan, and a show around horror and paranormal activities with Jay Alani," Agarwal said.

He said the company will focus extensively on the three genres and on building about 20 original shows with 3,000 podcasts under Gaana Originals over the next 4 months.

"One of the biggest tractions that we see is going to be comedy, followed by shows targeting kids like Tenali Rama, Katha, Panchatantra, and deep stuff Devdutt Patnaik-type shows," he said.

The podcasts will remain free for listeners and the company will monetise it through advertising supported model, he added.