Facebook’s Clubhouse Competitor Is Called Live Audio Rooms And It Will Be Available In Facebook And Messenger

Facebook is launching a competitor to Clubhouse with a feature called Live Audio Rooms, which will be available this summer. It’ll first roll out to groups and public figures as a test, but it will eventually make its way to Messenger, too, so people can hang out with friends. Users will be able to record their conversations and distribute them, and eventually, people can charge for access to these rooms through either a subscription or one-time fee.

To get people to join, Facebook says it’s introducing an Audio Creator Fund to “support emerging audio creators.” All of these conversations can also be turned into “Soundbites,” a forthcoming feature that allows people to create and share shortform audio clips along with an algorithmic feed to promote them. Think TikTok, but with audio clips. Soundbites will live within the broader News Feed. Users will be able to record them in a separate tool within Facebook, which the company describes as a “sound studio in your pocket.”

Facebook also plans to take on a bigger role in podcasting. The company says it’ll start recommending shows and episodes based on people’s interests and that people can comment on them and recommend them to friends. Zuckerberg says a partnership with Spotify is forthcoming, too, which will bring the company’s player over to Facebook, letting people stream music and podcasts from their News Feed.