Facebook has decided to stop its podcast and audio room services from its application on June 3, less than a year after their launch. Soundbites, a TikTok-like feature for creating short audio content, will also cease operations.
Audio services bow out
Facebook announced the news in a message to its partners. As of this week, it will no longer be possible to upload podcasts to the social network. It will also no longer be possible to create and use Soundbites. The audio platform will be shut down in order to merge audio channels with Facebook Live. Users will then be able to choose to make a live audio or video.
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” We are constantly evaluating the features we offer to focus on the most meaningful experiences “, said a spokesperson for the group to Bloomberg.
In its message, Facebook announced that it had no plans to directly notify users of the discontinuation of these features.
Between fads and competition
It must be said that Meta, the parent company of the social network, has positioned itself in a crowded market. At the end of 2020, Amazon bought the podcast platform Wondery. As for Spotify, it remains the undisputed market leader after overtaking Apple in terms of monthly listeners last year. This leaves Facebook very little room to evolve.
For Facebook, podcasts were also difficult to monetize, episodes being broadcast from various broadcasting platforms and not directly on the application. Also it would have been difficult to keep an eye on the number of plays.
Here is an overview of the podcast interface on Facebook. Screenshot: Century Digital / Facebook.
Like Spotify, Facebook seems to have missed the bandwagon of live audio platforms.
The social network tried to compete with Clubhouse with its audio rooms feature. Deployed in June in the United States and then in October worldwide, it comes a bit too late. The craze for this kind of spaces has run out of steam after the periods of confinement. The competition from Twitter with Spaces and from Reddit with Talks is also far too great.
Meta intends to refocus its activities on features that bring in more. The company is increasingly encouraging its users to watch Reels in order to compete with TikTok. It is also already launched to conquer the metaverse. Audio is therefore no longer a priority, if it had ever been.