With music streaming company Spotify purchasing Locker Room just recently in the hopes to compete against Clubhouse, the company announced Wednesday, April 28, 2021, that it will be relaunching Locker Room under a name – Spotify Greenroom, a place for live audio.
Locker Room is a live audio app dedicated to discussing sports. It is helmed and made by Betty Labs, which was acquired by the music streaming company by the end of March 2021 as a response to the constant demand of fans and users to have live audio formats.
Spotify chief executive officer Daniel Ek took the opportunity to announce Locker Room’s rebranding on the latest episode of For the Record podcast, reports Engadget. With the rebranding, Greenroom will not only feature sports but will also tackle culture and music.
In a statement, Ek said, “Just like Stories with video, where every major platform has them as one way for its audience to communicate with each other, I see live audio similarly. I expect all the platforms to have it.”
While the chief executive acknowledges that Clubhouse is the leading player in the industry today, Ek notes that Spotify Greenroom will be a worthy competitor, what with the numerous podcast talents it has successfully signed on, such as former President Barack Obama, Bruce Springsteen, and Joe Rogan, reveals Engadget.
With a Stories format permeating just about all types of social media platforms, such as Instagram, Snapchat, and many others, Tech Crunch states that the chief executive looks at live audio “as a compelling feature set, and I think creators will engage in the places where they have the best sort of creator-to-fan affinity for the type of interactions that they’re looking for.”
In keeping up with the demands of users and fans to have a more direct connection with musicians, artists, and creators on the platform, Spotify attempts to provide an answer to all of these with its venture into live audio, with Ek seeing spoken word content as a jump-off point for other formats that could take place, notes Tech Crunch.
According to Ek, the possibilities could range from providing musicians with the ability to engage with their fans, as well as conducting listening parties. In addition, Tech Crunch states artists could also use live audio to delve deeper into their process and thinking when it comes to writing a song.
In the end, Ek said that “I think it really comes down to the quality of the content. And I think when I look at our 8 million creators, we have some of the world’s best storytellers on the platform, and that’s ultimately what people will tune into, and that’s what matters.”
