Some thoughts about this social audio-first app trend.
Based on what we’ve seen and experienced, it’s sure is easier to create and listen to a conversation on Clubhouse vs podcasting. Then Clubhouse announced in January this year that subscriptions, tipping, and ticket sales are coming to help creators get paid. In fact, they have a 40-person pilot programme going on now with selected influencers. Now we can see why there’s been an explosion of social audio experiences. In fact, there are over 20 of them including Twitter Spaces. So the question I asked myself, was this – will some Podcasters abandon that format and platform for CH, because of the ease of creating and monetising?
In my mind, it’s a no-brainer, especially if they’ve been using this time to build a following and because CH, is well, the super-hot app of the moment and current leader in the space. While it was not a new strategy, as Hotmail ad Gmail did the same thing- the invite-only, celebrity, and influencer go-to marketing strategy worked.
Still, the game-changing thing for me though said from a very biased Jamaican/Caribbean headspace, is if they make it easy for International creators and influencers to create and get paid with ease. But, this is likely to happen only when it finally releases its Android App.
Time will tell.
In the meantime, let’s look at these stats.
-Clubhouse has 10 million downloads globally (Feb,2021) according to App Genie.
-Clubhouse only has about 2 million weekly active users
– As of March this year- 113 million iPhone users US which is 47% of all smartphone users in the US.
There are 900m iPhone users worldwide, but that’s just 15.2% of the global smartphone market. Yeah, it’s an Android world that CH is yet to join.
Fun Fact: Clubhouse app tech runs on the platform of Agora an audio tech startup in Shanghai, China. What a fascinating trend.
What a fascinating trend to watch
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