According to Culture Next, Spotify’s annual global culture and trends report, podcasters are perceived as being authentic, accessible, and trustworthy in India. 48% of millennials and Gen Zs ranked their trust in podcasts higher than their average trust in traditional media sources, including television news, newspapers, and radio. Approximately 80% of millennials and nearly 70% of Zs agreed that podcast hosts “sometimes feel like a friend.”

This year’s report explores how the millennials and Zs are navigating a common challenge to rebuild culture from the ground up post the COVID-19 pandemic, and the role of digital audio in their lives. The report is essentially designed to give advertisers insights about the best ways for marketers to use digital audio to thoughtfully connect with their audience. This is the second year that India featured in the report, alongside 17 other Spotify markets.

One of the highlights of the report is that a majority of the millennials and Zs in India consume audio to reduce stress – 87% of millennials and 77% of Zs. As the impact of digital content on our well-being becomes increasingly clear, millennials and Zs are journeying toward a more fulfilling and balanced media diet. They see audio as a mental health resource and believe audio to be healing. In fact, mental health witnessed the most impressive growth as a genre, with an increase of over 600% among millennials and more than 900% among Zs.

Overall, the average podcast listenership increased 271% among millennials and over 300% among Zs in Q1 2021 vs. Q1 2020. Globally, the median age of podcast listeners on Spotify is 27.

Last year, Spotify shared that 2020 has been the biggest year for podcasts for Spotify and the number of shows on its platform increased by 240%. Once viewed as niche, podcasting is now so mainstream that leaders in nearly every cultural arena are using the medium to forge deeper connections. And popular Gen Z creators are also attracting younger listeners to the audio medium.