The Eight Network, a first-of-its-kind audio streaming platform, is disrupting the way Indians consume audio content and engage with the artists, just the way they are currently doing on video platforms.
Pegged as an ‘Open Interactive Social Radio Platform’, The Eight Network is co-founded by Mohit Paliwal (IIT Kharagpur), Yugal Tamang (Ex Amazon), and Mohit Goswami (IIT Kharagpur) and is driven through user-generated content.
The Eight Network is primarily targeted towards providing audio artists like singers, storytellers, poets, and even virtual DJs, a platform to showcase their voice and content in a very portable and hassle-free environment, helping them become Audio influencers/celebrities. Listeners, on the other hand, can tune in at any time and get access to original music or choose from the list of on-boarded artists, start a podcast themselves, voice out their opinions, or just simply share their thoughts.
Speaking about the innovative format of the platform, Co-founder & CEO, Mohit Paliwal said, “Audio content consumption is on the rise because of ease of access, portability, deeper internet penetration, and the ability to consume content in the background. Unlike other forms of engagement online, audio content doesn’t add to the growing problem of visual fatigue amongst consumers. While on-demand streaming was a step up from traditional radio, there was a need for a platform that allowed easy engagement between audio content creators and their audiences.”
“We aspire to bridge that gap by building the ‘YouTube’ of audio entertainment through The Eight Network. Launched three months ago, we have grown organically with 2X growth in total minutes of the content streamed on the platform. Last month, we saw 1 million minutes being streamed with close to 500 new stations being launched organically. Users are streaming content across categories such as poetry, sports discussions, podcasts, talk shows, storytelling, etc. with horror shows as one of the most popular genres on the platform. In the second quarter of 2022, we aim to reach 1 million listeners,” Mohit said.
Currently, The Eight Network is the only UGC platform in the Audio space that is focused on content creators and allows anyone with quality content or voice, to create a show on the platform.