It’s just the start of another week in June and we’re seeing another live audio service pop up in the market. Last week it was Spotify Greenroom and now it’s the social media czar Facebook itself. Known for its aggressive internet acquisition/copy behavior, this doesn’t come down as a surprise. However, the extent to which Facebook has integrated the feature which is going to be (if not already?) the next big thing, into their ecosystem is definitely laudable.

The audio social networking niche is the white-hot topic on the internet with every eyes vying the nascent market. Clubhouse, the pioneer of this industry has done well to keep to keep itself differentiated from the Twitter Spaces and Spotify Greenroom. However, a face-off with the internet behemoth, Facebook will be more challenging.

What is Facebook Live Audio?

In competition with the popularly growing usage of Clubhouse and the niche for audio networking, Facebook is launching its indigenous feature, Live Audio. Facebook has been working on this since April 2021 and finally has launched this Live Audio feature now to select iOS users from USA at the moment.

The feature as a part of testing cycle will now be available to verified accounts on Facebook and will be rolled out to global users in the upcoming months. Beyond that, all users, groups, pages will be able to use Live Audio feature to spice up their social networking and interactions.

What can you do on Facebook Live Audio?

Facebook Live Audio allows hosts to create a Live Audio Room where up to 50 speakers can interact with unlimited number of listeners. The listeners can appreciate or show their support to the speakers by sending Stars, similar to Likes on Facebook posts.

Followers or listeners can follow the sessions and speakers to get a notification whenever the Room goes live for the next time.

Monetizing Options

Though Clubhouse and Spotify Greenroom are the frontline of the race, both these apps haven’t made it clear on their monetizing capabilities. However, Facebook is spot on! Even from the initial discussions, the people hosting the Live Audio Room will be able to collect donation for nonprofit reasons or may act as a fundraiser event. Eventually, Facebook users can subscribe to the sessions. Comparing the userbase and the reach of Facebook, businesses and creators aiming for monetary benefits will clearly pick Facebook ahead of other options available at the moment.

What’s coming up on Facebook Live Audio?

Facebook is aiming at disrupting the podcast industry by providing pro-level audio development tools to the users withing Facebook app starting this Summer. Users will be able to follow and listen to their favorite podcasts right from the Facebook app both while using the app or on the background.

Also, just like Reels, Facebook promises short audio clips with captions and hashtags for providing higher reach and visibility to the creators.

Other capabilities in pipeline for Facebook Live Audio does seem impressive. Some of the highlights of the feature are

• Audio quality enhancements
• Captions
• Speech translations
• Superhuman hearing
• Voice Effects

However, these are just the cornerstone of the audio empire that Facebook is trying to build. The vision of Facebook to make it capable of managing end-to-end audio needs is a possible threat to audio-tech giants like Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, etc.