Amazon is having another go at expanding its reach to listeners in India. The company, which launched pay-to-use Audible in the country last year, today introduced a new service called Audible Suno that offers free access to “hundreds of hours of audio entertainment, enlightenment and learning.”
And it’s banking on major Indian celebrities to draw the listeners. Audible Suno, which is exclusively available to users in India, features more than 60 original and exclusive series in both Hindi and English languages. Audible, the world’s largest seller and producer of audio content, said Suno is aimed at filling the “idle time” listeners have each day during their commutes and performing other daily chores. The company says Audible Suno is also free of advertisements. Audible Suno is available to users through a dedicated Android app and via iOS Audible app. The launch of Audible Suno in India illustrates the commitment the company has in the country, said Audible founder and CEO Don Katz. Amazon has invested more than $5.5 billion in its business in India to date. The company’s tentacles today reach a number of categories in the country including e-commerce, payments, online ticketing business, video and audio streaming, and VC deals. “I’ve always been passionate about the transformative power of the spoken word, and I’m delighted to be able to offer this breadth of famous voices and culturally resonant genres with unlimited access, ad-free and free of charge,” Katz said in a statement. Who are these famous voices you ask? Here’s the list: Amitabh Bachchan, Katrina Kaif, Karan Johar, Anil Kapoor, Farhan Akhtar, Mouni Roy, Anurag Kashyap, Tabu, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Diljit Dosanjh, Vir Das and Vicky Kaushal. More to follow…