iWorld
Podcast consumption on Gaana jumped 40 % YoY in 2021: CMO Shashwat Goswami
Mumbai: If the digital revolution paved the way for the OTT boom, it also provided a fresh impetus to the audio industry to evolve with the changing times. As the habit of consuming content on the go became a lifestyle for people, audio emerged as the most convenient option to keep one entertained and informed without any hassles.
According to the data released by the UK-based agency MIDia Research, worldwide music streaming subscriptions grew 26.4 per cent in the second quarter of 2021. The total number of subscribers currently stands at 521.3 million – an increase of 109.5 million from the year before.
The rise of podcasts
“Not just the musical content, but we saw a massive traction on our non-music content,” said Gaana head of marketing Shaswat Goswami in an exclusive conversation with Indiantelevision.com. Launched in 2010, the Times Internet-owned platform currently has around 180 million active listeners and finds its place among the top three streaming platforms in the country. The platform aspires to double its growth numbers by the end of 2022.
Discussing the increasing popularity of podcasts, Goswami said, “The overall consumption of podcasts on Gaana increased by ~40 per cent YoY, while we expanded our library to nearly 40K podcasts. This not only includes exclusive Gaana Originals but also a catalogue of national and international podcasts hosted in collaboration with different associations to keep pace with the rising demand.”
As people’s appetite for screen-free entertainment grew during the pandemic, the demand for podcasts also rose, especially from regional markets which witnessed a jump of 32 per cent in 2021. Podcasts of diverse genres such as music, motivation, stories and devotional ruled the non-music content.
Competition heats up, as new players jump in
Audio streaming has seen a global boom with a host of streaming apps flooding the market during the last few years. India too witnessed a surge in popularity of music apps like Gaana, Spotify, JioSaavn, and Amazon music which stamped their impact on the country’s audio streaming scene.
Talking about the increasing competition and entry of new players, Goswami said, “Unlike any other industry, we don’t lose a user simply because they have downloaded a new streaming app. Instead of uninstalling one as against the other new one, they usually continue using both apps. This kind of usage is the ‘new normal’ in music streaming – where there will be multiple apps on the phone.”
More opportunities for diverse, independent artists
With an increasing appetite for new content, Indians did not shy away from exploring a plethora of independent and diverse artists. The rise of streaming also empowered artists from all backgrounds to build a new fan base around the world and make successful careers in music. Streaming companies also provided the investment and support needed for the talent to thrive and reach a truly global audience.
“Gaana too worked closely with regional artists like Deepak Medatwal, Rajnish Kaushik, and Abhay Maheshwari,. We also plan to onboard more content creators including independent artists and established names in 2022 by further expanding our partner network and supporting individual podcasters in content creation and broadcasting,” said Goswami.
The Gaana CMO also expects regional language music and independent music to pick up in the coming months. “We are working with a lot of artists, and are constantly in touch with our label partners, artist partners for collaborations and to understand what support they are looking for on a new release and helping them,” added Goswami, who joined the audio streamer in October 2021 after moving on from grofers.
Focus on content marketing
The audio industry heavily relied on content marketing especially digital, along with traditional media like television, print to connect with their customers. Gaana launched most of its campaigns on digital and has been consistently growing its media spend in line with the business.
The audio platform’s marketing campaigns have also become more and more contextual and tailored to its user interests. The audio streamer has increasingly moved from mass campaigns to more segmented and personalised campaigns on the basis of language, user profile etc, and reported a 48-50 per cent jump in user retention over the last quarter.
The ambitious vision is to get to a billion users and ensure that it’s current consumer demographic represents the country’s internet penetrated demographic at large. “You cannot have 180 million users and not be representative of the country’s population,” said Goswami. “So be it in terms of language or metro vs non-metro there’s no conscious targeting on the brand’s part. However, we do see a lot of traction coming from the smaller towns, because that’s where the internet expansion is happening.”
With the battle of audio streaming apps heating up, Gaana CMO said the brand has been going all out to ensure it stays top of mind for its user base, as well as strengthening its main product – the app. “The bulk of our energies and innovations have been on that product- on how we can give our users an experience that’s glitch-free. Having great music content is our foremost priority, along with having a well-performing, quality product that guarantees a great user experience. That’s one major checkmark in Gaana’s favour, which we are constantly working on to better, along with the brand reach and awareness.”
Gaming
India’s new online gaming rules take effect today, banning money games and creating a regulator
The rules, in force from today, separate e-sports from gambling and impose jail terms and stiff fines on violators
NEW DELHI: India’s online gaming sector woke up this morning to a new reality. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Rules, 2026, came into force today, May 1st, turning a year of legislative intent into enforceable law. The message from New Delhi is blunt: e-sports and social games are welcome; online money games are not.
The rules operationalise the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming (PROG) Act, passed by Parliament in August 2025. Together, they represent the most sweeping regulatory intervention India has made in its booming digital gaming market, one that generated Rs 23,200 crore in 2024 and is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 11 per cent to reach Rs 31,600 crore by 2027. The stakes, in every sense, could not be higher.
A sector out of control
The urgency behind the legislation is not hard to find. An estimated 45 crore Indians have been affected by online money gaming platforms, with losses exceeding Rs 20,000 crore. Addiction, financial ruin, money laundering, and suicides have all been linked to the sector. Seventy-seven per cent of the market’s revenues came from transaction-based games, a figure that made regulators deeply uneasy.
The government’s response, effective as of today, is categorical. Online money games, whether based on chance, skill, or any mix of the two, are banned outright. So is their advertising, promotion, and facilitation. Banks and payment processors are barred from handling related transactions. Unlawful platforms can be blocked under the Information
Technology Act, 2000.
The penalties are designed to sting. Offering or facilitating online money games can attract up to three years in jail and a fine of up to Rs 1 crore, or both. Repeat offenders face a minimum of three years, extendable to five, with fines between Rs 1 crore and Rs 2 crore. Advertising such games carries up to two years in prison and fines of up to Rs 50 lakh, with repeat violations attracting higher penalties still. Cyber cell officers at state and union territory levels, including at police station, district, and commissionerate levels, are empowered to investigate offences.
The new sheriff in town
At the centre of the new framework sits the Online Gaming Authority of India, a digital-first regulator constituted as an attached office of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, headquartered in Delhi. It is chaired by the additional secretary of MeitY and includes joint secretary-level representation from home affairs, finance, information and broadcasting, youth affairs and sports, and law and justice, a deliberately multi-sectoral design built for a complex sector.
The authority’s powers are broad. It will maintain and publish lists of online money games, investigate complaints, issue directions, orders, and codes of practice, hear appeals on user grievances, and coordinate with financial institutions and law enforcement to ensure effective and timely action.
Its decisions on game classification are to be completed within 90 days, a time-bound commitment that industry players have welcomed after years of regulatory ambiguity. Classification can be triggered by the authority acting on its own initiative, by an application from a service provider, or by a notification from the central government. Games will be assessed on objective factors: whether stakes are involved, whether players expect monetary winnings, the revenue model, and whether in-game assets can be monetised outside the game. The outcome is recorded in a determination order specific to the game and provider.
E-sports gets its moment
While the crackdown on money gaming dominates today’s headlines, the rules also carve out a structured path for e-sports and online social games. Registration, required when notified by the central government, applies to all games offered as e-sports and is based on factors including risk to users, scale, financial transactions, and country of origin. A successful application yields a digital certificate of registration with a unique number, valid for up to ten years. Service providers must display registration details, designate a point of contact, comply with data retention requirements, and follow directions on facilitating payments.
Online money games are explicitly ineligible for recognition or registration as e-sports under the National Sports Governance Act, 2025. The separation is deliberate, and the industry has noticed.
Akshat Rathee, co-founder and managing director of NODWIN Gaming, called today’s operationalisation “encouraging,” pointing to publisher-led registration of esports titles and a time-bound determination process as creating “much-needed certainty for all stakeholders.” He added that the “continued emphasis on clearly separating esports from online money gaming is critical in preserving the integrity of competitive gaming as a skill-driven discipline.” He described it as “a proud moment to see official acknowledgement of the broader benefits of responsible esports and gaming, from building confidence, discipline, and teamwork to creating new career pathways for young talent,” and said the framework sets “a strong foundation for the ecosystem to scale in a more structured and globally competitive manner.”
Animesh Agarwal, co-founder and chief executive of S8UL, was equally bullish. “This clarity is critical in unlocking investor confidence and attracting multi-genre brands, while also enabling organisations to take a more long-term view, whether in investing in talent, scaling teams, or building globally competitive formats,” he said, adding that it “strengthens trust among audiences and mainstream stakeholders, positioning esports not just as a sport, but as a fast-growing youth entertainment category in India.”
But Agarwal urged caution on several fronts. There remains limited clarity around financial frameworks, particularly in how esports earnings are treated by banks and financial institutions. A well-defined pathway for the formal recognition or registration of esports teams is still evolving, as are structured player protections. He also called for smoother visa processes for esports athletes competing in international tournaments and for government support in developing infrastructure, including bootcamps, training facilities, and access to high-performance equipment across titles.
Vishal Parekh, chief operating officer of CyberPowerPC India, pointed to downstream effects on education and careers. “With formal recognition and policy backing, colleges and institutions are more likely to take the sector seriously, whether through dedicated esports infrastructure, training programmes, or curriculum integration,” he said, adding that this helps students view gaming as a viable career spanning roles across competitive play, content, game development, and allied industries. He noted that as esports gains prominence in global multi-sport events, the framework strengthens India’s position in international competitive gaming, and called on the ecosystem to provide the right infrastructure and access to high-performance hardware to unlock opportunities in talent development and job creation.
Protecting users, one safeguard at a time
The rules introduce a layered system of user protections calibrated to the risk profile of each game. These include age verification, age gating, time restrictions, parental controls, user reporting tools, counselling support, and fair-play and integrity monitoring. Service providers must disclose their safety features and internal grievance mechanisms when applying for determination or registration.
A two-tier grievance redressal system sits atop these safeguards. Users who are dissatisfied with a platform’s resolution can escalate to the authority within 30 days. The authority aims to dispose of such appeals within a further 30 days. A second appeal lies before the secretary of MeitY, who must also endeavour to resolve matters within 30 days. Enforcement proceedings will be conducted in digital mode wherever possible, with cases targeted for resolution within 90 days from receipt of a complaint.
Penalties under the framework are proportionate, taking into account gain from non-compliance, loss to users, the gravity of the offence, and whether violations are recurring. Mitigation efforts by service providers will also be considered when determining penalties. All penalties imposed under the Act will be credited to the Consolidated Fund of India.
The money follows the rules
For investors and founders, the implications are immediate and significant. Sagar Nair, head of incubation at LVL Zero Incubator, a 100-day sprint designed to accelerate early-stage gaming startups across India, argues that with real-money gaming now prohibited, capital will shift “away from transaction-driven models toward content-led, IP-driven, and global-first gaming businesses.” He acknowledged trade-offs: for operators with exposure to real-money formats, the market becomes more restrictive in the near term. But he argued that by clearly separating esports and non-money gaming from online money gaming, “India is positioning itself as a hub for responsible, creative, and scalable game development.” The opportunity, he said, is “to view India not just as a monetisation-first market, but as a talent, IP, and scale market,” adding that “for founders and investors willing to adapt, this shift could ultimately strengthen India’s position in the global gaming landscape.”
The government frames the wider impact in equally ambitious terms: a boost to India’s creative economy and digital exports, new career pathways for young people, protection for families from predatory platforms, and a stronger voice in global digital governance. India, it argues, offers a model for other countries grappling with the same tensions between gaming’s economic promise and its social risks, one that shows innovation and strong safeguards need not be mutually exclusive.
Whether the framework delivers on those promises will depend on enforcement, always the hardest part. But from today, the architecture is firmly in place: a regulator with teeth, a classification system with deadlines, penalties designed to deter, and a clear dividing line between games that build careers and games that destroy finances. For a sector that has grown fast and governed itself loosely, May 1st, 2026 is the day the free ride ends.
