Spotify shuts down its Spotify Live audio app
Spotify is shutting down its live audio app Spotify Live, a company spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch on Monday. The company says it will continue to explore live features on its core platform. The news was first reported by Music Ally.
“After a period of experimentation and learning about how Spotify users interact with live audio, we have made the decision to discontinue the Spotify Live app,” a spokesperson told TechCrunch in an email. “We believe there is a future for live fan-creator interactions in the Spotify ecosystem; however, based on our learnings, it no longer makes sense as a standalone application. We’ve seen promising results in the artist-focused use case of “listening parties,” which we’ll continue to explore in the future to facilitate live interactions between artists and fans.
In April 2022, Spotify integrated the live audio capabilities of its companion app, Spotify Greenroom, into the main Spotify streaming app and rebranded Greenroom as “Spotify Live”.
At the time, Spotify noted that Spotify Live would continue to function as a Greenroom by allowing creators to interact with their audiences in real time and serve as a creative mechanism for hosts, but live listening within the app main Spotify would not support interactive features. and instead would provide the opportunity for creators to reach a wider audience of Spotify’s 406 million global listeners.
Spotify acquired the app that will become Greenroom in March 2021 with its Purchase of $62 million from the startup Betty Labs. Originally known as Locker Room, the app focused on the intersection of live audio with sports content. Spotify quickly renamed the app and introduced it as Greenroom in June 2021. The company then rolled out weekly live broadcasts in hopes of driving consumer adoption of its live audio service. However, Greenroom failed to gain traction in a market that was already moving away from the live audio trend.
Last December, Spotify appeared to be scaling back its live audio ambitions as the company ended production on several of its live audio shows, including ‘Deux Me After Dark’, ‘Doughboys: Snack Pack’, ‘The Movie Buff’. and “A Gay in Life.
Spotify’s foray into the live audio market had initially seemed natural to the company, as it had invested heavily in podcasts and related technology in recent years. Although podcasts have been a hit for Spotify, the company seems to have struggled with live audio.
It’s worth noting that Spotify isn’t the only company pulling out of live audio. Last year, Facebook integrated its Live Audio Rooms offering, which is its Clubhouse clone, into its Facebook Live experience. The social media giant has also discontinued its abbreviated Soundbites audio feature and audio hub.
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