Audible Suno Brings a Wealth of Spoken-Word Content to India
On December 12, 2019, Audible and some of India’s best-known writers and performers announced Audible Suno, a free, ad-free streaming service offering listeners in India unlimited access to over 60 exclusive audio shows in Hindi and English.
“We are all so proud of the power of the performed words that are inside Audible Suno and the many more original programs to come,” Don Katz, founder of Audible, said to the gathering of actors, writers, directors, producers and journalists at Mumbai’s historic Famous Studios.
Audible Suno aims to spread the power of spoken word across India by offering free, unlimited access to hundreds of hours of original and exclusive content created by some of India’s leading storytellers, creators, and performers, including legends of global cinema like Amitabh Bachchan; A-list Bollywood stars Anurag Kashyap, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Tabu, Mouni Roy, and Neena Gupta; Indian music sensations Nucleya, Naezy, and Palak Muchhal; best-selling authors Om Swami, Christopher C. Doyle, and Divya Prakash Dubey; longtime audio storyteller Neelesh Misra,; and comedians Vir Das, Abish Mathew, Sahil Shah and Kaneez Surka.
Audible Suno’s unlimited, ad-free service is the first of its kind for Audible anywhere in the world and deepens our mission to connect to India’s distinctive literary and storytelling traditions. “India is a country that has millions of stories — happy, sad, triumphant, hopeful,” Shailesh Sawlani, Audible’s India country manager, said. “We’re committed to finding culturally rich and powerful stories and turning them into high quality audio entertainment.”
Encircled by the lurching, beeping crawl of Mumbai evening traffic, the creators behind the content went on stage to discuss their shows, which span romance, comedy, horror, spirituality, self-development, documentary, business and other genres.
“No matter who we are, no matter how accomplished we are, how poor we are, how rich we are, we’ve done stupid things on a daily basis,” Vir Das said about his show Be Stupid, which chronicles life-changing acts of stupidity. “Whether it is being in the wrong relationship or spending all your money or getting drunk or going to a night club — or doing a show at Famous Studios during rush hour.”
Initial customer reviews have praised Audible Suno’s powerful content. “Truly mesmerizing,” said a customer who described listening to Kaali Awaazein, a psychological thriller starring Amitabh Bachchan. “Must have app for all audio lovers,” said another.
The launch, coming just thirteen months after we brought our premium service to India, exemplified our People Principle of articulating the possible and moving fast to make it real to electrify Hindi and English speakers and much of the media throughout India.
