Audible’s streaming shift
The Hindu
International titles in Indian languages and new genres are among their post-pandemic changes
The Sandman audiobooks, based on the series by Neil Gaiman, are an excellent example of how a classic in one medium (in this case, comics) can receive a new lease of life, even an all-new audience, when it’s adapted into another medium. Narrated by Gaiman himself for Audible, alongside actors like James McAvoy and Riz Ahmed, the audio version (launched in September 2021) has received great reviews across the spectrum, with good reason. Now, the podcast and audiobook platform has announced that Indian audiences will soon get a Hindi version of The Sandman.
This is just one among the slew of announcements made by Audible India this week. They’ve just released an all-you-can-listen Audible Plus catalogue with over 15,000 titles available (including novelist Anand Neelakantan’s Many Ramayanas, Many Lessons, Kalia Masaan by Avik Sarkar) to existing users for no additional costs. There’s also a ‘free tier’ with over 150 Audible-exclusive podcasts and Originals (audio stories) and over 40,000 popular podcasts from around the world. Yoddha, a 30-part series on the brave exploits of Indian soldiers narrated by Neelesh Misra and Kaali Aawazein, a horror story in 10 parts narrated by Amitabh Bachchan is a part of the free catalogue.