Why Social Audio Sounds Like the Future
The rise of live social audio could not have come at a better time. Global online content consumption doubled In 2020, and brands are looking for ways to leverage these new behaviors to deepen relationships. As a format, live audio offers an intimate social experience simply not found in the feed. Clubhouse was first to market with their "drop-in audio app" and leads the space with 10 million users, despite still being in closed beta after launching in April 2020.
Think of Clubhouse as home to hundreds of live podcasts where you can join the conversation and the appeal of social audio becomes clear. This new level of interactivity is driving people to use the app for hours at a time, with some even pulling all-nighters as a badge of honor. The direct access to thought leaders who freely share their domain expertise, advice and opinions is catnip for the insatiably curious. The app is not without its challenges however, lack of moderation led to early reports of misogynistic and racist behavior which the founders have acknowledged and condemned.
With participation from Elon Musk, Virgil Abloh, Snoop Dogg, Mark Zuckerberg, and Malcolm Gladwell among others, it's clear a new kind of experience has arrived in social. As with any new whitespace, competitors are filling the void fast. Twitter officially launches their audio entrant, Spaces, this month after having considered buying Clubhouse for four billion dollars. Discord is pivoting from a gamer-centric focus to more general audio chat rooms, making it a $10 billion acquisition target for Microsoft. Mark Cuban recently announced his audio startup called Fireside, while Slack founder Stewart Butterfield went meta when he announced his Clubhouse copycat on Clubhouse, during a conversation with Clubhouse founder Paul Davison.
To pull ahead, Clubhouse just announced a monetization feature for creators. As a strategy, the app takes pride in supporting creators directly and indirectly (including $100 million earmarked for a creator grant program). This encourages creators to grow their followers on Clubhouse, beckoning brands to join the conversation – a move Pernod Ricard, Ted Baker and Burger King have already made.
Our next newsletter this month will explore how social audio can create customer value along with some best-in-class examples of leadership brands breaking the social sound barrier.
This article originally appeared in the April 13th, 2021 issue of Moving Image & Content’s agency newsletter. Subscribe here