Crime, romance open new vistas for audio on web

From true crime to tales for children, audio entertainment is finding new listeners in India, widening a segment that started off with music and podcasts years ago.

Low production costs and listeners seeking non-conversational programming are fuelling the rise, opening new horizons for platforms and scriptwriters, sound engineers and radio jockeys moonlighting as voiceover artistes. A big chunk of the new content is fiction up to 30 minutes long.

"Audio storytelling is an involved experience for listeners. We generally work to keep episodic content under 20-30 minutes per episode for the best listening experience and engagement, and each season of an episodic series is typically 8-10 episodes. This allows the listener to easily binge on a great series and ensures an engaging pace for a story," said Karen Appathurai Wiggins, vice-president and head of content, APAC, Audible, an online audio service owned by Amazon.

According to Wiggins, fiction transports listeners to different worlds, and with audio, the experience can be made even more special through the power of sound and imagination. The platform has created Audible Originals such as Social Distancing by Chetan Bhagat, Suno Ramayana by Devdutt Pattanaik and Durga by Kevin Missal.