Spotify Inc said on Tuesday that it has purchased Betty Labs, the company behind sports-focused social audio app Locker Room, moving into live audio with an app that lets sports fans and experts chat in real-time.
Image Credit : Locker Room Twitter Post
Following in the footsteps of podcasts, "live audio" – offers talks, broadcasts and conversations between a wider range of creators and fans. It will provide opportunities to host audio conversations in a range of formats including real-time discussions, debates and ask me anything sessions.
Image credit : Locker Room Website Screenshot
Live audio is now booming on the internet and the new offering will place it in direct competition with popular platforms. Some of the voice-based platforms, Discord, an app for gamers, and invite-only social app Clubhouse- backed by Silicon Valley's leading venture capitalist, have seen rapid growth in recent months during the COVID-19 pandemic. Billionaire Mark Cuban and Co Founder Falon Fatemi are planning to launch Fireside soon. Twitter Inc. is also testing a live audio app called 'Spaces' which is rumoured to publicly launch by April, while Facebook Inc. and LinkedIn also reported to be developing their own live audio platforms too.
Image Credit : Clubhouse / Twitter / Fireside Twitter Pages
“Through this new live experience, Spotify will offer a range of sports, music, and cultural programming, as well as a host of interactive features that enable creators to connect with audiences in real-time,” it said in a blog post.
“Creators and fans have been asking for live formats on Spotify, and we’re excited that soon, we’ll make them available to hundreds of millions of listeners and millions of creators on our platform,” said Gustav Söderström, Chief Research & Development Officer at Spotify.
Image credits : Gustav Söderström Twitter Page
Spotify will operate Locker Room as a separate business, rather than integrate it into its namesake app, according to a statement Tuesday. Locker Room is said to remain on the App Store. It will be eventually be rebranded on iOS and will also be expanded to the Play Store for Android users, as per the report by The Verge.
“We are excited to join forces with Spotify and continue building the future of audio – we’ll invest more in our product, open the experience to Spotify’s audience, diversify our content offerings, and continue expanding the community we’ve built,” said Betty Labs founder and CEO Howard Akumiah.
Image Credit : Locker Room Twitter Page
Spotify did not disclose the cost of the acquisition. Betty Labs was initially backed by Lightspeed Venture Partners and later by GV, Alphabet Inc’s venture capital arm, and Precursor Ventures. Last October, Betty Labs raised $9.3 million in seed funding led by GV.
Clubhouse, completed its one year anniversary on the 17th of March 2021. The app which is still invite-only, and available only on iOS, has reached close to 13 million downloads with USA, Japan, Germany, Brazil and Russia being their largest markets. They could launch its Android version as early as May 2021.
Meanwhile, Sweden technology giants - Spotify is already the leading audio app in the world and has been devoted to on-demand music, podcasts and audiobooks and has 345 million users and 155 million paying subscribers across 178 markets.
Image Credit : Spotify Wikipedia page
What are your thoughts on this? Who do you think is going to come on top?
Will it be Clubhouse? Will it be Spotify? Or someone else?
Are you currently using any app for live audio?
If not, do you plan on using any of these platforms soon?