Podcasting in India
India is now one of the largest podcast markets in the world. Hindi storytelling, true crime, history, personal finance, startups, cricket, spirituality and relationship podcasts all have big audiences, and Spotify is the most popular podcast app in India. Many podcasters now publish video versions on Spotify and YouTube together.
How listeners find podcasts
Most new listeners discover a podcast through a short clip: a striking moment from an interview on Reels, a 50-second story on YouTube Shorts, or a guest sharing their episode with their own followers. They then follow the show on Spotify and wait for the next episode. Spotify's own recommendations favour shows whose listeners follow, finish episodes and come back.
Why not buy plays
Podcast plays are shown to you, not listeners, so they don't help anyone discover the show. Spotify can remove artificial plays, and if your podcast earns through the Spotify Partner Program, ads or subscriptions, artificial plays can stop payouts. Above all, sponsors pay by listener numbers. Showing a sponsor bought plays is misleading them, and they'll see it in their results.
What we'd order
1. Instagram Reel views on each episode's best clip in its first hour.
2. YouTube Shorts views on the same clip, with the full episode linked as a related video.
3. Spotify show followers for a new show, so it doesn't look empty when people find it. Followers get new episodes in their library.
4. YouTube views on the full video episode, only if the channel isn't monetised.
Clip every episode
Pull three moments from every episode: one surprising fact, one emotional moment, one strong opinion. Add captions in the language of the episode, keep each under 60 seconds, and end with the episode title. Post one a day for three days after release.
Guest swaps
Go on other podcasts in your niche and invite their hosts on yours. Each swap puts your voice in front of an audience that already listens to podcasts. Ask every guest to share their episode with their followers and give them clips to post.
Example: a Hindi finance podcast
Two Delhi friends run a weekly Hindi podcast explaining personal finance for first-time earners. After ten episodes they have 300 Spotify followers. They start posting three captioned clips per episode on Reels and Shorts, adding 3,000 views to each in the first hour, and swap guest appearances with two career podcasts. Within three months they pass 2,000 Spotify followers, and a fintech app sponsors a season based on their real numbers.
Publish on a schedule
Listeners follow shows they can rely on. Choose a day and keep it. Spotify's recommendations also reward consistency.
Sponsors and honest numbers
Report plays and followers from Spotify for Creators exactly as they are, exclude any paid promotion of clips from claims about organic reach, and give sponsors a promo code so they can measure results themselves.
Budget
A few hundred rupees per episode on clip views is plenty for most Indian podcasts. Top up by UPI; undelivered quantity is refunded to your wallet automatically.
Titles and descriptions
Use titles people search: the guest's name and the topic, in the language of the episode. Write a two-line description and chapter markers so listeners can jump to the part they want.