Facebook Inc., a social media giant, is going big on the new audio features. The company has launched a host of audio-only features, that will be available on its core Facebook application in the coming months. The company’s primary goal is to build a central platform for audio content that can be hosted on the main platform. The newly added function will be split across Facebook at the initial level, the company is also considering an option to add a monetization feature. The monetization facility will give a leg up on the company’s competitors such as Twitter or Clubhouse, which are playing a lead role in the audio space on social media for a while now.
“We’re working to make audio messages easier to record, and more fun — including the ability for people to send familiar sound clips to their friends that range from sound effects like crickets chirping to quotes from popular songs,” the company said in its blog post. The new feature includes in and out copies of its competitor platform along with new features, that will be unique to Facebook. Facebook will let people host live chat rooms on its side arms such as the Messenger app which is the core idea behind the Clubhouse.
Around 1.8 billion people use Facebook Groups every month and as per the company’s plan, few rooms will be used as a pilot project at the initial stage. Once the initial testing is done, the features will be available for many public figures, who will be able to host a conversation with the audience on the platform. In this summer, Live Audio rooms will be available on Messenger, and it is expected to go live towards the end of July for a small portion of the user base.
Moreover, Facebook is also planning to include a new short-form audio feature termed ‘Soundbites’, which will allow people to record a voice clip of few seconds and post it on the platform. This feature is currently in the development stage and it may take few months to be available for the audience. To step ahead of the competitors, the company is also including filters like smart noise cancellation, that removes the unnecessary audio portion and other background voice effects to enhance the overall quality of the main content. Facebook has already created a bunch of tools for editing photos and videos. “We’ve been investing in audio technologies — such as speech-to-text and voice morphing — for a long time and will make them available in an audio creation tool directly inside the Facebook app,” the company said.
Facebook has the plan to work together with Spotify to add a podcast feature, instead of building its own hosting platform for its 170 million users, who are connected to podcast pages on the Facebook app. Such collaboration and access to the podcast in the background will help the content creators to find new listeners at no extra cost of effort. Besides, the company will provide access to the music from its exclusive collection that podcast creators can add to their content.
Lastly, what may draw creators to Facebook is the monetization feature, that will be available right away. The users and fans will be able to donate stars and gift virtual items or they can pay a fee to access Live Audio rooms. This feature will also give the company a leg up over Twitter and Clubhouse.
