Spotify's Sound Up to boost women podcast creators in India

SWEDISH music streaming company Spotify on Monday launched Sound Up in India to boost underrepresented women podcast creators in the country.

Sound Up is a global programme created to identify underrepresented communities, and enables participants to hone their podcast skills through training, mentoring, workshops, and full-program support provided by the audio streaming platform.

In India, Spotify will focus on women as an underrepresented community, with the hope to bring more female talent into India's thriving audio ecosystem, the company said.

"Since its launch in 2018, Sound Up has successfully supported the voices of underrepresented communities with an aim to tackle inequity. The programme seeks to identify opportunities for new talent, and we are eager to find and represent unique female storytellers from India. Ultimately, we want to create a cascading effect where, as we support more women, they in turn act as role models and empower other women in their network to dial up the female voice in the audio industry," said Natalie Tulloch, Global Lead-Sound Up at Spotify, in a statement.

"And to ensure everyone has equal access to resources and technology, Spotify will provide computers, internet access, and podcast recording equipment to the Sound Up participants," she added.

The India Sound Up programme will start with four weeks of virtual Sound Up sessions consisting of scheduled live courses, recorded lessons, one-on-one meetings with the Spotify team and facilitators, and light homework assignments. Eight weeks after the completion of virtual classes, participants will submit a final trailer and pitch proposal for the opportunity to be selected to attend the subsequent Sound Up sessions in 2022.