With the purchase of Lightspeed Ventures and GV-backed firm, Spotify is betting on the future of live, social music. With the introduction of Clubhouse last year, the emphasis on social audio features became more prominent. In a blog post, Gustav Söderström, Spotify’s Chief Research & Development Officer, said, “Hundreds of millions of listeners and millions of artists have been calling for live formats on Spotify, and we’re happy that they’ll be available to them soon.” Betty Labs founder and CEO Howard Akumiah said, “We’re excited to join forces with Spotify and continue developing the future of audio – we’ll invest more in our app, offer the experience to Spotify’s audience, maximise our content options, and continue expanding the community we’ve created.” We’ll give professional athletes, writers, musicians, songwriters, podcasters, and other global voices opportunities to host real-time discussions, debates, ask me anything (AMA) sessions, and more. This demonstrates that, even after the business was acquired, Spotify was able to reform changes and improve the platform for consumers in order to improve the user experience. During the COVID-19 pandemic, voice and audio-based services became very popular, and Betty Labs’ Locker Room, which was unveiled recently in 2020, has become a very popular forum for sports fans to talk and host watch parties.
