Spotify shutters live audio app

Spotify is shutting down its standalone live audio app, Spotify Live, at the end of this month as the audio giant turns away from live programming, a company spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter on Monday.

As user interest in the live audio app Clubhouse gained momentum during the earlier months of the pandemic, Spotify sought to follow suit with its own live audio offering. In March 2021, the audio company acquired Betty Labs, the maker of the live audio app Locker Room, for 57 million euro (or roughly $67.7 million at the time). By June 2021, Spotify launched its standalone live audio app, Spotify Greenroom, and later rebranded the app to Spotify Live the following year, promoting the rebrand with live shows from Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper, comedian and actor Hasan Minhaj and creator Tana Mongeau, among others.

At the time, Spotify also forged ahead with some of its existing live programming deals, reaching a deal extension in April 2022 with the popular sports podcast Fantasy Footballers to continue its live show through the next three NFL seasons.

But the audio giant began scaling back its live programming late last year, when it canceled at least six of its live audio shows created for the Spotify Live app. As THR reported at the time, at least two deals were canceled midway through the creators’ contracts, though the contracts were being paid out in full, according to people familiar with the matter. Axed Spotify Live shows included Deux Me After Dark, Doughboys: Snack Pack, The Movie Buff, A Gay in the Life, Taylor Talk and Lorem Life.

“After a period of experimentation and learnings around how Spotify users interact with live audio, we’ve made the decision to sunset the Spotify Live app. We believe there is a future for live fan-creator interactions in the Spotify ecosystem; however, based on our learnings, it no longer makes sense as a standalone app,” the Spotify spokesperson said, adding that the company saw “promising results” from its “listening parties” with between artists and fans and will continue exploring ways to move forward in that direction.

Select live shows will exist on the main Spotify app as non-live podcasts. The Spotify Live app will shut down on April 30.

Music Ally first reported the shuttering of the live app. The Hollywood Reporter