Facebook Launches Clubhouse Competitor Audio Rooms In The U.S.

Facebook's rollout of the potential Clubhouse rival follows the success of the invite-only live audio app, which became an instant hit as people stayed indoors during the pandemic. (Facebook)

WASHINGTON — Facebook is launching podcasts and Live Audio Rooms in the U.S. on June 21 as it competes with the audio-only social media app Clubhouse.

“Today, we’re rolling out Live Audio Rooms and podcasts, as part of our plans to bring social audio experiences to Facebook,” Fidji Simo, Head of Facebook App, said in a statement.

“Public figures and select Facebook Groups in the U.S. can create Live Audio Rooms on iOS, and select podcasts will be available to listeners in the U.S. In the coming weeks, we’ll expand the ability for more public figures and Groups to host a Live Audio Room and introduce new features for both experiences in the coming months,” Simo said.

Facebook’s rollout of the potential Clubhouse rival follows the success of the invite-only live audio app, which became an instant hit as people stayed indoors during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Facebook’s launch of Live Audio Rooms come days after Spotify debuted its live audio app, Greenroom.

About 15 months after Clubhouse launched, several U.S. social media platforms have launched their audio-first apps. Twitter launched Spaces around seven months ago, instant messaging platform Discord launched Stage Channels, and Reddit has Reddit Talk.

LinkedIn and Slack are reportedly working on their versions of an audio product, even as downloads of and buzz around Clubhouse have waned considerably.

In Facebook’s Audio Rooms, users can join from both iOS and Android. Anyone can be invited as a speaker with up to 50 people able to speak at once. There’s no limit on the number of listeners allowed in, a shot at Clubhouse, which imposes caps on room size.

The Menlo Park, California-headquartered firm is also introducing other features, like notifications when your friends or followers join a room, as well as live captions.

There will be a ‘raise a hand’ button to request to join the conversation, and reactions will be available to interact throughout the chat. Twitter Spaces, Twitter’s live audio feature, includes captions, but Clubhouse does not.

Within Facebook groups, admins can control who can create a room: moderators, group members, or other admins. Public group chats will be accessible both in and outside the group, but private group chats will be restricted to members.

Additionally, Facebook said Audio Room hosts could select a nonprofit or fundraiser to support during the chat with a button for listeners and speakers to donate directly.

Clubhouse creators have hosted fundraisers on the app but have to direct people to outside links to facilitate donations.

Facebook is also making podcasts available on the platform. Users will be able to listen to podcasts while browsing through Facebook. The podcasts can be accessed through a mini-player or a full-screen player with playback controls, including listening while the screen is off.

Users can find shows on podcast creators’ pages and in the News Feed. They can react to, comment, bookmark, and share their favorite podcasts.

The company said it’s working with creators to develop and launch Soundbites, which are short-form, “creative audio clips” that will be launched later this year.

(With inputs from ANI)

(Edited by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan and Amrita Das)