Social Media Shifts- Voice-Only Platforms
Social Media Shifts- Voice-Only Platforms
At Here and Now, we love looking at the latest social media trends, especially looking at how they impact the music industry. It’s an ever-changing landscape that fascinates us!
And so, when we started hearing murmurs about a new social media platform that was largely for the music industry, our ears peaked up. As the app is invite-only, it gives a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out) and is shrouded in mystery. We wanted to see what all the buzz was about, and so after receiving an invite, we joined in September 2020.
At the point we joined Clubhouse, it was said that there were 200,000 users on the app. Considering the app was launched in April, and had approximately 3,500 users in May, that growth is incredible. More incredible yet, is that latest figures suggest there are 600,000 users on the app. Wow, what a year for developers Silicon Valley entrepreneur Paul Davison and ex Google employee Rohan Seth.
Before we get into the impact Clubhouse may have on the music industry, let’s first give you a quick whistle stop tour of the voice-only app. Once you join Clubhouse, you’re invited to ‘follow’ people. Nothing new here. But what is interesting is, that your algorithm of the Clubhouse ‘rooms’ you can join depends on who you follow. For example, follow lots of music industry people, and you’ll find you’re inundated with music industry type rooms such as ‘Social Media Marketing 101’. The main USP with Clubhouse is that it is a voice-only app.
As the music industry settled into the ‘new normal’ of working from home, and as award shows and other networking opportunities became blocked, many turned to Clubhouse to compensate. The app seems to predominantly have a British and American audience, with rooms peppered with the likes of Joe Budden, Meek Mills, Kevin Hart and rumours of an Oprah siting once!
Although it’s a great networking tool there have been concerns regarding fake news and Clubhouse had to issue a statement on moderation after a particular room featured hate-speech. It will be interesting to see how the app will develop, especially in a post-COVID world.
Interestingly, in June [2020], Twitter too announced the launch of their new Audio Tweets feature. Citing that the new feature will create ‘a more human experience for listeners and storytellers alike’ it will be interesting to see how this extra layer of personability will be used by music artists.
Will voice-only platforms be the next popular wave in social media, or will they just highlight how easy it is to fall into echo chambers, or worse, be a method of pushing false news?
