Adelle Onyango Among Kenyan Podcasters Proving Popular on Spotify

The time for the podcast is now. 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.

With the recent launch of Spotify in Kenya, Kenyans now have unbridled access to an app that has become the one-stop shop for music and podcasts. The sheer experience of streaming music and listening to a podcast on the same platform is one of the many impressive features of the Spotify app that attracts users. Today, there are over 2.9 million podcast titles available to Spotify listeners in Kenya for free. But what are Kenyans listening to? What subjects are they tuning in to?

Data on Spotify shows 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.  In true Kenyan style, listeners are keen to support local creators and are leaning towards comedy and empowering content.

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Upon hearing that she was the number 3 most listened to podcast in Kenya, here’s what Adelle Onyango had to say about the growth of the podcast format in Kenya:

“2 years after founding my podcast, Legally Clueless, it’s very clear to me that we are 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. 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.”

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.

Top podcasts:

1. The Joe Rogan Experience
2. The Mics Are Open
3. Legally Clueless
4. Divercity 1 Love Christian Network
5. The Sandwich Podcast
6. 7 Good Minutes Daily Self-Improvement Podcast
7. Super Soul
8. For Christ
9. Joel Osteen Podcast
10. Ted Talks Daily

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