Podcast, Live Audio Rooms, and Soundbites are Coming To Facebook

By now, you’ve probably heard about Facebook’s new audio products that will be rolled out in the coming months. What does this mean? Would our lives be enhanced if we use any of these products? It’s too early to tell, but it looks like Facebook wants to capitalize on the social audio craze happening right now.

Audio-chats, live audio rooms, and other social-audio platforms are starting to get massive traction and are becoming more mainstream. Clubhouse, Twitter Spaces, and Locker Room (acquired by Spotify) are the most popular live audio conversation platforms at the moment.

In fact, the audio chat app Clubhouse is valued at $4 billion, just one year after it was launched. With that kind of valuation, it’s not hard to see why Mark Zuckerberg wants in on the action.

Facebook: Social Audio Experience

So, what exactly are these audio-based tools that would be integrated into Facebook? Let’s break it down.

Audio Creation Tools

Facebook is going to have audio creation tools directly inside the Facebook app. They described it as a “sound studio in your pocket.” Pretty clever marketing for a technology that has been around for quite some time.

What will set these tools apart from the other apps? Well, Facebook promises to make the audio quality “magically great.” In their example, you can record audio on a busy street and with the smart noise reduction feature, you won’t hear any of the street noise on playback.

The recorded audio can be edited and sound effects can be added right from your phone. Speech-to-text and voice morphing are added features in the audio creation tools. With the ability to mix tracks with sound effects, and voice filters, we can see the fun

Soundbites

Soundbites are short-form audio clips that can be created within the Facebook app. This gives users the ability to record jokes, tell empowering stories, read poems, and record pretty much anything.

A small number of creators will be testing Soundbites to further refine the tool before launching it to the public. What’s particularly exciting is that this is an opportunity to listen to creators that we follow and get more content from them.

Podcasts

Yes, podcasts are coming to Facebook. Better late than never, right? Facebook admits that millions of people are already connected to podcast pages on Facebook but they have to leave Facebook to listen to podcast episodes. What will happen is that Facebook users will be able to listen to podcasts directly on the Facebook app.

Facebook will also make it easier for users to find podcast shows and episodes based on interests. There’s also a feature where users can comment on, react to, and recommend the podcast to others. This is a big opportunity for podcast creators to reach and connect with new listeners. With Facebook’s reach, it can be exciting times for podcasters out there.

Live Audio Rooms

Live audio rooms are Facebook’s version of Clubhouse. We can expect chat rooms based on topics and anyone can join. Public figures and celebrities are likely to host conversations with fans. So, artists, sports figures, personal coaches, motivational speakers, politicians, and other public figures can use the platform to have a casual conversation and share ideas with their fans. Facebook will make these conversations discoverable through search and recommendations.

What do Facebook audio products mean to Creators?

With Facebook's new audio creator tools, there's more opportunity to create audio content. Content creators can unleash their creativity and share it with a bigger audience (more than 2 billion Facebook users are waiting). Podcasts creators, in particular, can have better discoverability and wider reach. With integration to other Facebook apps like Instagram and Messenger, content distribution will be a breeze.

With new avenues to promote audio content, there'll be more opportunities to turn audio into text and repurpose them to other social media platforms. If you are a podcaster or a content creator, you'll soon realize that podcast transcripts will be a key factor in your overall podcast marketing strategy. And that's where we can help you.

Connect with us and we'll show you how your podcast episodes can reach a bigger audience.