Facebook Unveils New Audio Tools

Facebook has announced a list of new audio tools for soundbites, in-app podcasts and live audio rooms.

The audio tools will feature audio quality enhancements, captions, speech translations, and sound effects.

The new tools follow the rise of podcasts, audio messages and the more recent fame of Clubhouse, which has attracted big names like Elon Musk.

SoundBites will be a new format for short-form audio, a little like TikTok for audio. The tool will let you change your sound via filters and other effects.

Facebook’s long-form audio will feature in-app podcasts, which means users won’t have to leave the app. An expanded partnership with Spotify will bring the audio player to Facebook’s app as well, allowing users to listen to both music and podcasts. 

Facebook expects its new Clubhouse-style Live Audio Rooms will be popular with Groups. Participants will be able to tip creators with Facebook’s digital currency.

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, suggests the tools will play a big part in the creative economy, enabling individuals and shifting power from traditional institutions to enable individuals to exercise their own creativity. But he also acknowledges the debate over the degree to which audio, particularly live audio, should be moderated. If misinformation is shared in Facebook audio rooms, should moderators shut it down? 

Facebook is currently setting up an Audio Creator Fund to pay users to create content for SoundBites and working on podcast features that will allow users to discover, share and listen to podcasts.

Clubhouse: the exclusive invite-only audio app

If you’re in the know, you’ll have heard about the new exclusive app Clubhouse. For the laggards, Clubhouse is an audio-based, invite-only iPhone app that lets you listen to a live conversation.

Being invite-only, you cannot simply download it off the app store and create an account. Like an exclusive yacht club, you’ll have to be invited by an existing member.

However, Clubhouse creators Paul Davidson and Rohan Seth recently stated that their aim is to open up the app to everyone, once the beta stage testing has been completed.

If you’re lucky enough to join at the moment, you can select any number of topics from tech and health to business. This opens up conversation rooms for you to listen to.

The conversation rooms are a little like conference calls, so once the conversation has finished, the room is closed. 

The app recently saw a steep rise in awareness due to Elon Musk and Bill Gates making appearances earlier in the year.

Musk’s chat with Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev in January, helped propel Clubhouse to the top of the startup charts. As of 1 February 2021, Clubhouse had 2 million users and is now reportedly valued at $1 billion.

Clubhouse has announced a number of forthcoming new features like tipping and tickets, but right now is more of a status symbol app, featuring celebrities like Oprah, Drake, Chris Rock and of course Elon Musk.

When the app becomes available to the public and the exclusivity is lost, will the value diminish? Only time will tell.

What’s down the road for radio advertising?

While radio advertising remains a staple for many brands in Australia, advertising avenues like in-stream, podcasting and broader digital continue to challenge the investment return of radio.

In the US, radio execs have spent years building strategic relationships with car makers to ensure their marketing channel remains relevant.

Enter ‘connected cars’; cars that can communicate with systems outside of the car, allowing the transfer of user data.

To better understand radio performance in today’s market, a pilot study was conducted by General Motors and Taco Bell.

GM’s connected cars were able to measure location data and in-car radio listening data, while Taco Bell provided radio advertising logs for analysis. 

The study used three different radio ads: a typical 30 second radio spot, an on-air personality sponsorship and promotions for news/weather/traffic reports. 

The study concluded that:

  • the 30 second radio spot was most effective in lifting drive through restaurant visits;
  • personality sponsorships and news/weather/traffic spots generated synergies when combined;
  • the combination of a 30 second ad with a voiced personality enhanced campaign frequency and 
  • mid-day recorded the highest driving activity.

Today, with Amazon, Google and Apple trying to embed their systems into ‘connected cars’ the potential to leverage user data in order to improve ad relevance and targeting might not be as far away as we think. 

Imagine approaching a McDonalds in your car as a McDonald’s radio ad starts, prompting you to drive through and buy a burger.