Facebook Kicks Audio Push Into Next Gear With Live Audio Rooms

The moment that social audio platforms like Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces and podcast platforms like Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio and SoundCloud have been bracing for has arrived. Facebook revealed the next steps Monday in its push into the social audio and podcasting spaces, rolling out Live Audio Rooms on iOS for public figures and select Facebook groups in the U.S., as well as making select podcasts available to U.S. listeners. Live Audio Rooms enable people to discover, join or listen in on live conversations with experts, public figures and others. Public figures can invite anyone on Facebook to be a speaker: followers, friends or other pubic figures with verified badges. Hosts can invite speakers in advance or choose listeners during the stream, and there can be up to 50 speakers, with no cap on listeners. For Live Audio Rooms from groups, group administrators can control whether they can be created by other admins, group members or moderators. In public groups, members and visitors can listen, but only members can do so in private groups. Hosts can choose a nonprofit or fundraiser to support during their conversation, and listeners and speakers can directly donate. The social network’s Android and iOS users can discover Live Audio Rooms via News Feed and notifications, and they can sign up to be reminded when a Live Audio Room they expressed interest in kicks off. Users will be notified when friends or followers join conversations, and they can enable live captions, raise a hand to join the conversation and use Reactions to interact. Finally, listeners can show support and appreciation for hosts of Live Audio Rooms via Facebook’s Stars feature, which will bump up to the “front row”—a special section where hosts can recognize and shout out supporters—in exchange for their purchases of Stars packs. Public figures who have partnered with Facebook to host Live Audio Rooms include: Organizer, producer, independent journalist and scholar-activist Rosa Clemente will host a discussion around affirming Blackness in the Latinx community.Social entrepreneur Amanda Nguyen will speak with fellow changemakers about pursuing justice and making progress in an extraordinarily polarized time.Streamer, entertainer and internet personality Omareloff will share what it’s like to live the life of a professional esports player.Grammy Award-nominated electronic music artist Tokimonsta will discuss female excellence and overcoming obstaclesNational Football League quarterback Russell Wilson will talk about how to train your mind like an elite athlete. Facebook said others lined up for the future include Bobby Berk, Joe Budden, Dr. Jess, D Smoke, Lisa Morales Duke, Kehlani, Tina Knowles-Lawson, DeRay Mckesson and Reggie Watts. The social network’s initial slate of podcasts will include: Joe Budden of The Joe Budden Podcast; “Jess Hilarious” of Carefully Reckless from The Black Effect Podcast Network and iHeartRadio; Keltie Knight, Becca Tobin and Jac Vanek of the LadyGang; and Nicaila Matthews Okome of Side Hustle Pro. More will be added in the coming weeks. People can listen via a mini-player or a full-screen player with playback options, and they can do so with the display turned off on their smartphone. Podcasts can be accessed via podcasters’ Facebook pages or News Feed, and users will be able to bookmark, comment on, react to and share their favorites. Additional features to come this summer will include captions, along with the ability to create and share short clips from podcasts. Fidji Simo, head of the Facebook application, said in a Newsroom post, “Over time, we’ll build more unique social experiences around podcasts that make use of Facebook’s best interactive and personalized features.” In an April interview with journalist Casey Newton on the Sidechannel Discord server, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg outlined the social network’s plans for entry into the audio space, which included: new audio creation tools, an infinite scroll feature of audio clips ,called Soundbites; on-platform podcasts; live audio rooms, similar to those on Clubhouse; and a music partnership with Spotify currently called Project Boombox. The latter was introduced later in April, as Facebook users in 27 countries gained access to a new mini-player experience within Facebook enabling them to listen to full-length tracks and podcasts from Spotify and easily share what they were listening to with family and friends. Simo wrote, “Live Audio Rooms and podcasts rolling out in the U.S. is just the beginning of our audio journey. Looking ahead, we are working with creators who will use our audio tools to further develop and launch Soundbites—short-form, creative audio clips. We are excited to partner with this community to refine the Soundbites experience before it launches later this year. We’ll also soon start testing our other audio products, like the central listening destination and background audio listening for videos.”

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Facebook Kicks Audio Push Into Next Gear With Live Audio Rooms

Podcasts are now available to listeners in the US

David Cohen

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