Daniel, CEO of Spotify, told investors in a Wednesday earnings call that every major platform like Story will receive a live audio experience.
The streaming service recently acquired a live audio application locker room, the technology of which it hopes can apply the power of a variety of new live audio conversations centered on sports, culture and of course music. Streamer today focused on providing recorded content – music and podcasts – and investors were curious as to exactly how the locker room would fit into Spotify’s current offerings, not some live social networking experience.
One, mirroring what many in the industry are already thinking, said he sees live audio as a new set of skills that everyone will widely embrace. He originally dubbed it as the next “stories” – a feature popularized by Snapchat, but in the end it made its way to each platform. “It’s not really different than how you think about the stories,” he said, explaining his thoughts in a live audio. “Today, stories exist on a number of platforms, including Spotify, Instagram, Snap and many more. So, I’m looking at [live audio] as an interesting feature set, and I think there’s a lot of fan-friendliness from the creator for the kind of interaction that the creators are looking for in the places they’re looking for. And I think that’s how stories historically played out.
In other words, each platform can attract a certain type of live audio creator and see its own potential in the field of Spotify music and culture – thanks to its existing and extensive investment in podcasts. The interest in live audio arose in the midst of an epidemic that left people trapped at home and shut down traditional theatrical networking and large events such as conferences. But that doesn’t mean the format has no future when the world is backed up.
Of course, Clubhouse is credited with becoming directly interested in the audio space because its exclusive invitation-only status attracted a crowd of determined networks (and clout-chasers) to participate in the next big thing.
But as the app became more popular, it also snatched big celebrity guests – such as Tesla founder Elon Musk, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, actor-turned-investor Ashton Kutcher, Drake, Oprah, and many other technology companies. Soon, everyone was making clubhouse clones. Today, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Twitter, Discord, Telegram, and even LinkedIn have plans for live audio at various stages of development or availability.
