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It ’s been three age since Spotifyacquired live audio recording startupBetty Labs , and yet the music cyclosis service is n’t leverage the technology to its fullest potential — at least not in our opinion .
Betty Labs - owned Locker Room launched in 2020 as a sports - focused social audio frequency app where summercater fan could engage in live conversation , create lookout man company and respond to game in real time . When Spotify bought the app , it rebranded it as Greenroom , a Clubhouse clone that catered to all types of fans , whether they ’re interested in sports , fantasy football , euphony or other topics . Like other social audio apps , Greenroom users could create a practical room and participate in springy discussions with others who share the same interests .
Greenroom was then renamedSpotify Livein 2021 but in the end was short - be andofficially shut down last year . The failure to gain traction could have been due to several factors , including the deplorable reality that social audio is struggling ( just look atClubhouseand the now - defunctReddit bouncy talking ) . Also , some userscomplainedthat the standalone app was full of hemipteron and bug , while others noted the sound was poor quality ( which attend pretty bad for a medicine streaming titan ) . The elbow room capacity of only 1,000 users was another letdown .
fortuitously , Spotify did n’t completely give up on live audio . In December 2023 , the company launch an in - app observational feature call off “ Listening Party , ” letting superfans join invite - only unrecorded hearing parties where they get to hear immediately from the artist , ask questions in a resilient New World chat elbow room and even request to join the creative person as a loudspeaker . ( Listening Party was antecedently a Spotify Live capableness that the company found to be the most bright feature , a spokesperson told us at the time of the closedown announcement . )
Spotify has been testing the feature of speech with several artist , such as Zara Larsson , Bleachers , MGMT and Lizzy McAlpine , among others . More recently , Billie Eilish hosted a Listening Party for her top fan ( who were selected free-base on Spotify data ) last Friday , May 17 , to keep her latest record album , “ strike Me difficult and Soft . ” It was a decent turnout , with 2,500 user in attending , including myself . A spokesperson told TechCrunch that a typical hearing company has between 1,000 and 3,000 attender .
Rather than leveraging real - time audio technical school to the fullest , Eilish ’s springy session was chiefly a 50 - minute stream of her new album with zero break . It then end dead without a goodbye from Eilish .
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We were n’t the only I who react to a Listening Party this way . MGMT buff expressed like complaints during their sitting . “ I thought they were taking questions afterward,”wrote one fan in a Reddit thread . “ MGMT is n’t enounce anything , ” said another .
Billie chatting with fans during her spotify listening company today ! 💙 pic.twitter.com/FxBjC1L9TR
For whatever reasonableness , Eilish ’s event also neglect out on a fundamental lineament that Listening Party offers — “ Onstage , ” where fans can quest to talk to the creative person during the alive word . Fans only participate with write reaction , hop Eilish would see it and reply . So , rather than being a alive discussion with user as the social audio capableness is design for , it was treated more like a group hearing sesh , educe a like reply when in a deadening Zoom call — “ This could have been an email . ”
To be mediocre , Eilish ’s Listening Party was better than nothing and offered an alternative experience to the two in - person listening parties that she hosted in New York City ( May 15 ) and LA ( May 16 ) . We also realize that it ’s not up to artist to utilize certain features . Still , we could n’t help but be let down .
Another downside to the feature is that you have to be view a “ highly engaging ” listener to be ask over to a Listening Party , which excludes C of yard of sports fan from connecting with their favorite artists . ( But it should be noted that the maximal capacity is likely to prevent the server from crash . )
Despite the setback do by the end of Spotify Live , the launching of Listening Party signifies that Spotify is seek to make the most of its $ 62 million investment in Betty Labs . However , ground on our rating of the feature , Spotify still has substantial footing to cross to establish itself as a leading thespian in the live audio distance .
Listening Party is currently in the early testing stages , so luckily , it still has room to grow . It ’s only uncommitted to exploiter in the U.S. and Indonesia .
