It's been three years since Spotify acquired live audio startup Betty Labs, but the music streaming service hasn't, at least in our opinion, made the most of the technology.
Locker Room, owned by Betty Labs, launched in 2020 as a sports-focused social audio app that allows sports fans to have live conversations, host watch parties, and react to games in real time. . When Spotify acquired the app, it rebranded it as Greenroom, a Clubhouse clone that caters to all types of fans, whether they're interested in sports, fantasy football, music, or other topics. Similar to other social audio apps, Greenroom users can create virtual rooms and participate in live discussions with other users with the same interests.
Greenroom was then renamed Spotify Live in 2021, but it was ultimately short-lived and officially shut down last year. Its failure to gain traction can be attributed to several factors, including the sad reality that social audio is struggling (just look at Clubhouse and the now-defunct Reddit Live Talk). please). Some users also complained that the standalone app was riddled with bugs and glitches, while others noted poor audio quality (which seems pretty bad for the music streaming giant). It was also disappointing that the capacity of the room was only 1,000 people.
Fortunately, Spotify hasn't given up on live audio completely. In December 2023, the company launched an in-app experimental feature called “Listening Parties.” This allows superfans to join invite-only live listening parties to hear directly from the artist, ask questions, and even make requests in the live chat room. Artists will participate as speakers. (Listening Party was previously a Spotify Live feature that the company found to be the most promising, a spokesperson told us at the time of the closure announcement.)
Spotify has tested this feature with multiple artists including Zara Larsson, Bleachers, MGMT, and Lizzy McAlpine. Most recently, Billie Eilish celebrated her latest album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, last Friday, May 17th, with Top Fans (selected based on Spotify data). He hosted a listening party with fans. He had a good turnout with 2,500 users including me. A typical listening party has between 1,000 and 3,000 listeners, a spokesperson told TechCrunch.
Listening party experiences were mixed. On the one hand, fans' excitement was evident as comments flooded the live chat. Meanwhile, aside from the opening remarks by Eilish and her brother Finneas, a songwriter and producer, Spotify's live audio feature was largely unused. Instead, Eilish picked up her keyboard and told fans how excited she was to perform her new song “CHIHIRO” live.
Rather than taking full advantage of real-time audio technology, Eilish's live session consisted primarily of an uninterrupted 50-minute stream of the new album, then came to an abrupt end without even a farewell from Eilish.
We weren't the only ones who reacted this way to the listening session. MGMT fans expressed similar frustrations during the session. “I thought you were going to take questions later,” one fan wrote in a Reddit thread. Another source said, “MGMT hasn't said anything.''
For some reason, Eilish's event also missed an important feature that listening parties offer: “On Stage,” where fans can request to speak with artists during live discussions. Fans only participated with written reactions, hoping that Eilish would see them and react. As such, his social audio features were designed to treat his live discussions with users more like group listening sessions, and his boring Zoom calls elicited a similar response. “This could have been an email.”
To be fair, Eilish's listening party is better than nothing, replacing the two in-person listening parties she hosted in New York City (May 15) and Los Angeles (May 16) It provided an experience. We also recognize that it's not up to the artist to take advantage of certain features. Still, we couldn't help but be disappointed.
Another downside to this feature is that you have to be considered a “highly attractive” listener to be invited to a listening party, leaving hundreds of thousands of fans unable to connect with their favorite artists. That's it. (However, be aware that using maximum capacity may prevent server crashes.)
Despite the setback caused by the termination of Spotify Live, the introduction of Listening Party shows that Spotify is looking to make the most of its $62 million investment in Betty Labs. However, based on our assessment of this feature, there are still important areas left to cover for Spotify to establish itself as a leading player in the live audio space.
Listening Party is currently in early testing, so fortunately there is still room for growth. Available only to users in the US and Indonesia.