Spotify announced yesterday that it will be shutting down its Spotify Live audio app, though Spotify will “continue to experiment with live features on its main service.” The social voice turns out to be nothing more than a Valhalla would menace on radio.
Spotify Live is / was the app formerly known as Spotify Greenroom, formerly Locker Room, that was acquired in 2021 when Spotify bought its creator, startup Betty Labs, for $57 million. Originally a sports-focused alternative to Clubhouse, Locker Room is the social audio app that will see a huge launch in the spring of 2021. buzz Caused in technical circles. Two years later, there is little left of him.
During the pandemic, Clubhouse suddenly gained traction as a voice-only social app. So the app has been described as “the app for people who miss conferences”. Celebrities like Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Justin Bieber, Oprah Winfrey – and Marc Coucke here – have jumped on the bandwagon and candidly testified to how much they enjoyed the new game.
Soon pirates appeared on the coast, because the “traditional” social media also saw potential in this. In addition to the aforementioned Spotify Live/Greenroom, Facebook launched Live Audio System (Rooms), rolled out Twitter Spaces and launched Reddit Reddit Talk. Just to name a few, because the list is much longer.
But the new phenomenon of “casual” online conversations quickly crashed. None of the competitors really picked up and Clubhouse’s user count today is down to around 10 million weekly users. There are still some “influencers” here and there, but no big celebrities or “executives” anymore. In the summer of 2022, a round of layoffs within the club has already followed.
Facebook Live Audio was already “turned off” in December 2022 and two weeks ago Reddit pulled the plug on Reddit Talk two years later, due to “other priorities”. Spotify Live is also ending now, barely a year after the Swedish House Mafia’s stellar launch party. Twitter Spaces still exist, but they are only available to those with at least 600 followers.
After two years of hype, the most important lesson seems to be that Social Voice doesn’t work without filters, just as other social media has had to experience over the years. In addition, “speaking well” is an art that takes years of practice.
So professional speakers do not yet have to worry that they will be put in a difficult economic situation due to technical developments (y), where (among other things) journalists and photographers have had to experience this.
