Spotify Joins The Live Audio Chat Race With Greenroom App

Spotify is a Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded in 2006. It is regarded as one of the biggest streaming platforms in the world, as at March 2021, it recorded about 356 Million  active subscribers with about 159 Million paying subscribers. Spotify is a platform that offers digital copy write restricted songs, and has more than 70 Million songs readily available. This songs are from various recording labels and media houses. It available in Africa, Asia, Europe and America.

Earlier in the year, the Swedish streaming company announced it was acquiring the company (Betty Labs) behind the Sports-Focused audio app Locker Room, in other to help accelerate its entry into the live audio market. Since the acquisition, Spotify has been working to erase any limitation of creators and users connecting deeply and meaningfully – hence the birth of Greenroom.

Greenroom is an app that allow Spotify users/creator do 2 things majorly. Firstly host or join live audio rooms once they log in. Secondly users/creators have the ability to convert those conversations into podcasts. Spotify is also announcing a Creator Fund that will help fuel the new app with more content in the future. Find out more about the features of the Greenroom App.

The Spotify Greenroom app itself is a remake of the Sport-Focused audio app – Locker Room, it is built on some of its existing code. In fact, Spotify announces that all current Locker Room users will see their app update to become the rebranded and redesigned Greenroom users, effective immediately. The new Greenroom app looks very much like an offshoot from Spotify, having adopted the same colour palette, font option and iconography.

In other to join the new app, there is a sort of onboarding experience designed to connect them with their interests using current Spotify account information to sign in.

How to use Greenroom

You can start a Room by tapping the Create Room button at the bottom of the Home page, Spotify says. Creating a Room simply means you’re going to be the host, so you have the option of inviting others to join, you aso have the option to control requests to speak. Alternatively, users can search for groups/individuals with Live Rooms that they can log into. For this users who follow groups/individuals, such users will get a notification whenever these group/individuals they follow start a Live Room.

Speakers in each room appear at the top of the screen with a rounded profile icons, while listeners in the same room appear below as smaller icons too. Rooms have mute options, moderation controls and the ability to bring listeners onstage during the live audio session. Rooms can host up to 1,000 people, and Spotify expects to scale up that number later on. Listeners can also virtually applaud their speakers by giving them “gems” in the app — a feature peculiar to the Sport-Focused Audio app Locker Room. The number of gems a speaker earned displays next to their profile image during a session. For now, there’s no monetary value associated with the gems earned by speakers, but that seems an obvious next step as Greenroom today offers no form of monetization.

Although, English is the only language available currently, many hope more languages will be on boarded. Greenroom is available in most countries where Spotify is available, in more than 135 markets, the company said says “We’re building Greenroom with the creators and artists in mind who make Spotify great, optimising for interactivity and deep connections between participants in live rooms,”

Spotify Greenroom will be available on iOS and Android devices. Similar apps which Greenroom shares characteristics with is the trending social media application, Clubhouse tailored to iOS user at first but later released the android version, this also allows users to engage in audio-based discussions and conversations. Twitter’s Spaces which became public in March 2021, Facebook’s Live Audio Room which began testing in May 2021. Many more are still expected to jump into the Live Audio Sector.

The app, rolling out today, includes:

• New app branding (aka Greenroom) and a new overall look and feel 

• The ability for any user to host or participate in live rooms

• A way to join Greenroom using your Spotify log-in info

• A new onboarding experience that puts users’ interests front and centre

• Recording capabilities so you can complement your on-demand content with live conversations

• Chat controls to ensure the best possible experience