PODCASTS

Local podcasts dominate Spotify in Kenya

Listeners are keen to support local creators and are leaning towards comedy and empowering content.

In Summary

•Three local podcasts ‘The Mics are open’, ‘Legally Clueless’ and ‘The Sandwich Podcast’ are among the top 10 list of most listened to podcasts.

•'The Mics are open’ is hosted by three radio presenters in Nairobi who give listeners a slightly skewed look at life.

Image: SHUTTERSTOCK

Local voices are now dominating the podcast scene on Spotify in Kenya.

Spotify, which recently launched in the country, said listeners are keen to support local creators and are leaning towards comedy and empowering content.

The audio streaming and media services provider said in a statement on Monday that Kenyans are listening to a mixture of local and foreign podcasts.

Three local podcasts ‘The Mics are open’, ‘Legally Clueless’ and ‘The Sandwich Podcast’ are among the top 10 list of most listened to podcasts.

'The Mics are open’ is hosted by three radio presenters in Nairobi who give listeners a slightly skewed look at life.

Through weekly episodes on ‘Legally Clueless’ Kenyan media personality Adelle Onyango documents her raw human journey to listeners.

Upon hearing that she was the number three most listened to podcast in Kenya, Adelle Onyango it's clear to her that Kenya is in the middle of a great shift in the media space.

"A shift that I believe is very important for Africans because we can finally have full agency over our voices, stories and issues that affect our communities in a manner that is unbiased or censored," she said.

"On my podcast we have various Africans sharing stories from their lived realities and it has resulted in us learning more about each other and realizing our similarities, differences and most importantly, our raw strengths. I’m very excited about the podcasting space in Africa.”

Though the podcast format has been around for some time now, in the last two years podcast consumption has increased and people are getting more creative. Podcasts started off as heavily educational but have now branched into many dynamic genres.

Also on the top 10 list are religious-themed and inspirational podcasts - ‘Apostle Joshua Selman’ and ‘Divercity 1 Love Christian Network’. 

"Kenyans are clearly loving homegrown podcasts, and this can also be seen with the new podcasters that are coming up on Spotify. Podcasts such as The Mettā Podcast, Surviving Nairobi, and The Spread are just a few examples of shows rising in popularity that explore various genres," Spotify said in a statement.

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