Kuku FM and Storytel join forces to expand audiobook content in India

Kuku FM, an audio content platform, announced an exclusive content licensing deal with Storytel, a Stockholm-based e-book and audiobook subscription service.

This partnership, founded on Kuku FM's commitment to providing its 2 million+ subscribers with greater access to diverse content libraries across languages, will enable Kuku FM to integrate over 3,300 audiobooks and 26,000 hours of fresh content from Storytel's extensive collection.

This strategic partnership comes at a time when India's audio streaming industry is witnessing rapid growth, with the OTT audio market expected to reach $1.8 billion by 2025 (IMARC Group, 2023). In addition, the Indian OTT audio streaming market is also expected to reach 104.1 million users by 2022, translating to a significant increase from the current user base, indicating sustained growth potential in the future.

The collaboration represents a move within India's audiobook industry, aligning with Kuku FM's vision to redefine the landscape of audiobook content consumption in India. By leveraging Storytel's vast library and its deep understanding of the Indian market, Kuku FM aims to offer Bharat users an opportunity to access works by bestselling authors in their native languages for the first time.

Kuku FM's recent deal marks its second major partnership following its exclusive audiobook rights acquisition from book publisher, Rupa Publications, which took place last year.

The exclusive deal also aligns with the bottomless demand for regional audio content among audio streamers. Local languages including Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, and Bengali are among the top regional languages streamed, according to various industry reports.

“What makes Kuku FM Bharat’s favourite listening partner is our relentless effort to make global wisdom accessible to the Indian heartland, in their languages. From entertaining stories to simplifying complex financial concepts, it offers its listeners the diverse range of content that they deserve. This deal with Storytel is another big step in that direction, and we could not be more thrilled about the mutual value we would bring to Indian ears.” says Vinod Kumar Meena, co-founder & COO, Kuku FM.

Yogesh Dashrath, publishing manager, Storytel India added, “We are happy to license titles produced by Storyside India to KukuFm. Our fantastic catalog of titles from India & produced at the highest quality will now be available to even more listeners via Kuku FM. The wider distribution will benefit listeners as well as all of our writers & publishing partners. This deal is in line with our global strategy of wider distribution in expansion markets to grow the industry.”

The integration of Storytel's library into the Kuku FM platform is already underway and is expected to be completed within the next quarter, with audio content set to be available as early as the 1st week of March. This partnership will be a significant milestone for Kuku FM, revolutionising the way Bharat consumes audio content, which perfectly aligns with Kuku FM's vision to redefine audiobook content consumption in India.

This integration will ensure that Kuku FM's users can swiftly access a vast array of audiobooks, including Shoe Dog by Phil Knight, Ikigai by Hector Garcia in Telugu, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho in Telugu, Atomic Habits by James Clear in Tamil and Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari in Malayalam are some of the works by bestselling authors in their native languages, enhancing the overall experience on the platform.

According to the release, Storytel, a listed streaming platform available in more than 25 countries, has a strong presence in the global audiobook market with its Audiobooks.com service, which is available in over 150 countries. Kuku FM, on the other hand, has established itself as India's leading audio content platform, creating, producing, marketing, and distributing exclusive premium audio content across 20+ genres and 7+ premium content in 7+ languages.

The partnership with Storytel enhances Kuku FM's capacity to meet evolving audience needs through library expansion hence catering to bottomless demand for regional audio content in India.