Spotify’s Clubhouse competitor Greenroom launches today

Greenroom, Spotify’s live audio app, is now available on iOS and Android, marking the company’s first serious attempt at building a social media network. Users can hold live chats on sports, music, and culture on the social audio app, which is similar to Clubhouse.

Instead of announcing a marquee creator or holding a specific event, the firm is using today’s launch to urge people to sign up and figure out how they’ll use the app. According to a source close to the matter, some of its fundamental functionality will ultimately make its way into the main Spotify app, so the team will keep a close eye on what occurs in Greenroom.

The software is based on Locker Room, which was created by Betty Labs and acquired by Spotify in March. Because that app was primarily focused on sports information, users who have been logged in since the beginning will have to adjust to seeing more than just sports chatter, which is the most significant shift. The app’s other notable modifications are primarily visual. It now has a new logo and font, as well as a Spotify green and black color scheme. In terms of functionality, it now has native recording, which allows users to preserve and distribute their shows as podcasts. (Of course, since Spotify owns Anchor, it’s easy to foresee shows being directly shifted to the creation tools for editing and publishing.)

Although it is not essential to use the app, users can sign up with their Spotify account. Users will be able to choose their interests from a wider range of topics, such as music genres and sports teams, during the first signup flow.

Spotify is also unveiling a creator fund, though the details are scarce. According to a source close to the situation, people on the app will be compensated based on how popular their rooms are and how engaged they are in them, and exclusive arrangements with creators are also in the works, with announcements expected over the summer. It’s unclear how much money Spotify will spend to entice creators to join the app, but fans who are interested can sign up for additional information here.

Every internet business today appears to be interested in social audio, which didn’t exist until Clubhouse began in March 2020. Since then, Twitter has introduced Spaces, Facebook has released Live Rooms, and other businesses such as Slack, LinkedIn, Reddit, and Discord have begun to develop comparable products. Because audio is currently its full-time job, Spotify may have the best chance of making social audio a real element of its business. However, convincing consumers to join an app live and spend time in it is a challenging sell, and one that will necessitate top-tier programming, especially given how many other apps are available.