Fastest growing podcast and audiobook service Podimo launches in Finland

Podimo, a fast-growing international podcast and audiobook service, launches in Finland today. Podimo is a monthly subscription service offering a wide and high-quality selection of podcasts and all available Finnish-language audiobooks in one place. Podimo operates internationally in six markets in Europe. In Finland, around 15% of podcast listeners currently use paid podcast services. However, the audio market is growing strongly and Podimo believes that more interesting content and a more user-oriented service will further accelerate growth.

Podimo will be the exclusive home of Afterwork by Jenni Rotonen, Petra Väänänen and Meri Milash, and Mother’s Date by Kaisa Turunen, Janni Keituri and Sara Vanninen, among others.  In September, the Aki Linnanahde Talk Show will also be added to the service.  In addition, Podimo will offer new Finnish podcasts with original content by some of the top names in the entertainment world. Newcomers to Podimo include the First Date at the Altar podcast by experts Kari Kanala and Hanna Myllymaa, which discusses topics related to infidelity with well-known guests, and the podcast biography Naked, starring Sofia Belorf and hosted by Kristiina Komulainen, as well as Sikke Sumari’s Erotic Reading Circle and Manuela Bosco’s Promised Land.

True crime is the genre that interests listeners the most - Podimo invests in Finnish content

In addition to its domestic offerings, Podimo offers formats that are familiar from around the world, recreated in Finnish. For example, Kadoksissa podcast, produced by Podimo and hosted by Jonne Aaron, is a version of the globally highly popular, award-nominated The Missing format with millions of listens that has been translated for a Finnish audience. According to a survey commissioned by Podimo and Norstat, true crime is by far the most popular podcast genre in Finland, with up to 40% of listeners interested. Podimo meets this demand with a comprehensive true crime selection, including both high-quality Finnish podcasts and international favorites translated into Finnish. The launch will bring to Podimo the popular After Evil, On the Edge of Evil, Mole and Murder That Happened, as well as the international Nordic Noir hit series Murha Pohjolassa, which has become the most listened to podcast on Apple Podcasts in Finland and the Netherlands.

“We focus on domestic productions by popular podcasters in Finland, and we want to build the best content for our listeners,” says Johannes Saukko, Country Manager for Finland at Podimo. “Podimo is an international company, but listeners are primarily interested in Finnish content. That’s why we offer our listeners the best local entertainment in all markets. Podimo has the will to produce its own high-quality, responsible and in the future even investigative journalism content, the first of which we believe we will be able to launch already at the end of the year. We will also take our podcasts to the world - for example, the Finnish Murder Stories podcast has already been localised for our German and Danish listeners.”   

New service rewards podcast creators

Podimo believes that the audio market has the same growth potential as video streaming services. According to a survey commissioned by Podimo, only 15% of Finns who consume podcasts subscribe to pay monthly audio entertainment services, but internationally the market is growing exponentially. The sector has also become an international arena for professionals, with higher quality content attracting more and more listeners to subscription services. 

Podimo offers exclusive podcast creators a competitive per-episode fee, giving podcasters creative freedom and the ability to focus on content creation. In addition, Podimo also allows users to listen to freely available podcasts that share their RSS feed. The creator of these podcasts can register as the owner of their pod and earn money from the listens the podcast receives from Podimo’s paying customers. Podimo is the only service that also pays the authors of podcasts that share RSS feeds. 

“Podimo aims to be the global leader in the spoken audio market with the best content, listening and user experience,” said Morten Strunge, CEO and co-founder of Podimo.  “We want to serve podcast creators not only in production, but also in marketing and program format development. We are excited to be able to develop the future of audiovisual entertainment together with new Finnish creators,” says Strunge. 

Podimo is a monthly paid audiobook and podcast service offering a wide and high quality selection of exclusive podcasts and all available Finnish-language audiobooks - without advertising. Europe’s fastest growing audio service is currently available in Finland, Denmark, Norway, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Latin America.