CXOToday has engaged in an exclusive interview with Mr. Gautam Raj Anand, Founder, Hubhopper
- How did the idea of starting your own podcast platform come about & what inspired you? What were the initial challenges & how did you overcome them?
During my stint at Barclays, one fine day, I discovered podcasts as a way to improve communication and cognitive skills. Gradually, I started listening to a lot of audio content on a daily basis, and the interest later turned into an obsession. When I plumed into this world, a question was repetitively making a home in my mind – why podcasts were not more mainstream. After thorough research, I discovered that the space has ample opportunities, and Hubhopper is the outcome of that eureka moment. Every new venture faces some challenges, and we are no exception. The initial challenges included building a tech-based product by techies who have no prior experience in such kind of services, hiring the right people, and securing funding for the company. Honestly, in the beginning, we made mistakes and learned from them, and ultimately overcame these obstacles to grow Hubhopper into a successful business.
2. Tell us about your audiences; from which age group of people does Hubhopper have more listeners?
Hubhopper’s audience can be divided into two main categories. The first segment includes people in the age bracket of 18 to 32. This class prefers podcasts on horror, thrillers, society & culture, and storytelling and romance, self-help, personal development, and business are their favourite genres. Then there’s the second cohort of people that’s above 45. This segment normally listens to spirituality, devotion, and business talks. They also consume news through audio, possibly as a nod to how news was traditionally consumed on the radio.
3. How did it start, what was the idea behind the same?
Already responded to this question.
4. Where did you envision Hubhopper in the next five years?
We are striving to democratize audio to a point where it becomes accessible to all. Next five years, we’ll be working hard to make sure that that changes. We are committed to being a driving force in this transition and to helping audio reach its full potential. We are excited about the journey ahead and the opportunities it will bring. Together with our team and the wider industry, we are looking forward to what the future holds for audio and for Hubhopper
5. Why should one host their podcast on hubhopper? How will they monetize through the platform?
As the country’s only end-to-end platform, Hubhopper offers solutions for everything podcast-related, whether it’s hosting, creation, distribution, analytics, monetization, or promotion, all for free. Through its vast distribution ecosystem, the platform helps creators get heard around the world by distributing their podcasts across 35+ global and Indian audio streaming platforms like Spotify, Google Podcasts, Acast, Amazon Music, Wynk Music, and Gaana, to name a few In a sense, Hubhopper acts as a bridge between creators and platforms, removing barriers that were previously hindering the growth of the medium.
By building a strong community of creators and broadcasters, Hubhopper is working to help the medium reach its full potential and allow creators to learn from each other, share ideas, and collaborate to build better podcasts and reach wider audiences.
The platform not only makes podcasting an easy endeavour but also helps creators grow their shows throughout their podcasting journey. With a robust data analytics dashboard that provides cumulative data on their podcast’s performance, creators can easily understand their audience’s behaviour and listening habits. Podcast monetization can be achieved just like any other content medium (YouTube, Instagram, or blogs). Whether that’s through sponsorships or affiliates, a creator can leverage their subscribers & content to bring value to brands & sponsors. Direct monetization is soon to come with fans donations & Dynamic Ads.
6. How has your business evolved over the years?
Hubhopper started off at a stage when the Indian market was nascent and had no exposure to podcasts, even though they had been around for years. From the time when users were not familiar with podcasts as a content medium to now, when India is the third largest country in podcast consumption, Hubhopper has been smack dab in the middle of it all. In just a few years since its inception, Hubhopper has built the creator economy from the ground up. We have built India’s most comprehensive set of tools and software for the democratization of podcasting and audio content that serves India’s largest repository of podcasters. Our tools and services have essentially changed the way people create audio content and distribute it to a diverse set of audiences. The numbers have grown not only in terms of creators and listeners but also in partnerships with brands and businesses and curating premium shows. These efforts have successfully brought podcasts to the forefront of content creation and consumption in India. Hubhopper has also actively worked towards building sustainable monetization models for creators so that podcasting can become a mainstream revenue medium for all.
7. What technology podcast platforms are using innovatively to boost the user experience
First of all, to make podcasting easy and accessible, Hubhopper is available on both mobile and desktop, allowing creators to start and launch a podcast from anywhere at any time.
Hubhopper constantly works toward improving its user experience through innovative tools and strategies. The platform has made podcast creation easy through in-built user-friendly audio recorder and editor tools. It also has a one-click distribution system in place to help creators go live and get heard all around the world. This technology allows podcasters to distribute their podcast to 15+ platforms with just a tap of a finger. Not just that, Hubhopper also offers detailed analytics with data break up across cities, devices, listening platforms, operations systems, day & time, and so much more so that users can monitor their performance and grow their podcasts through understanding such cumulative data. For users who want to grow their podcasts with the platform, Hubhopper has an easy podcast migration system in place that allows them to migrate their existing shows to Hubhopper seamlessly.
8. Evolution and transformation of Digital Audio Technology into New-Age Podcasts.
While technological advancement is bringing in a massive transformation in almost all sectors, the integration of modern technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and the Internet of Things (IoT) have made podcasts more accessible and personalized. With the application of technology and a data-driven approach, podcast platforms are now augmenting user experience by offering a host of content according to the taste and preferences of the users.
Digital audio technology is an extremely exciting space to be looked at. It lowers the barrier of creation across a whole range of different types of creators like writers, book publishers, and folks of that ilk who can start creating and disseminating audio in a much more seamless manner. Also, in India, there is a wide range of cultural diversity; which prompted towards the making and disseminating of content in podcasts not just in English but in other languages like Hindi, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Punjabi, Bengali, Assamese, Rajasthani and Bhojpuri, among others.
