In the midst of the pandemic, some unique tech trends emerged, and not the most notable of which was the live voice chat that exploded with the launch of Clubhouse. This trend has unleashed a fire that has affected giants like Spotify or Twitter, but the rise of these services has been followed by a resounding decline.

Club House. Launched in complete isolation, Clubhouse has become the social network everyone wants to be. Initial access by invitation – they soon opened the doors to all audiences – turned it into a desirable platform, and its operation demonstrated a potential democratization of radio talk: Suddenly anyone could set up a roundtable with speakers and listeners – who could demand it? audio—for discussing any topic. The offer had a special impact because it took advantage of all of us being at home and there was a great desire to try this type of service.

everyone copied. The elders of the sector did not want to miss the opportunity to present their alternatives. Instagram, Telegram, Spotify, Facebook, Amazon and Twitter. Of course, other independents such as Jam or Stereo tried to follow this development and took their place for a while.

Number of ClubHouse installations worldwide on Android and iOS mobile phones. Source: Winding.

As it came (almost) gone. The voice chat fever has subsided after the end of the pandemic. The return to activity and the choice of other social networks — like TikTok, which is still at the top of the wave — were less concerned with Clubhouse and its other rivals. According to data from the Sensor Tower consultancy quoted in The Verge, the number of active users on Clubhouse has dropped 82% since the summer of 2021, when the app reached its maximum relevance. The “social voice” revolution was short-lived, and today the Clubhouse has turned to private rooms to try to adapt to a situation where the use of these platforms has fallen behind.

Spotify Live. On Music Ally, they explained how Spotify is preparing to say goodbye to the Spotify Live service. That was the service that took over from Greenroom, the Clubhouse clone launched by this audio streaming giant. The platform’s budget cuts and the waning interest in this feature made the decision here a sharp one.

“After learning about how Spotify users interact with live audio and experimenting for a while, we have made the decision to shut down the Spotify Live app,” a company spokesperson said in that piece.

reddittalk. The responsible of this social network decided to close their alternatives to Clubhouse. Launched in April 2021, Reddit Talk was shut down a few weeks ago. While Reddit executives explained in their farewell messages that the platform needs much more resources than they anticipated, they admitted that they are not sure whether they will offer such a service again in the future.

Twitter Domains. Probably the most relevant alternative today and the activity on Twitter Spaces continues, although Elon Musk got rid of most of the team that led and developed that part of the platform. Given all that Mr. Musk has on him, trying to save a product of modest relevance and popularity doesn’t seem like a priority.

amazon amplifier. The much lesser-known Amazon’s live radio service, which launched in March 2022 – while the Clubhouse phenomenon is already in free fall – isn’t quite clear on its future either. Its development has been timid, but as GeeWire noted, Amazon fired “close to 150 people” from the Amazon Amp team in October 2022.

Social voice is losing speed. All these movements show that, at least at the moment, these platforms have not been able to achieve the expected success after the phenomenon created by Clubhouse. Twitch, which continues to dominate the audiovisual market, is undoubtedly a very interesting option to complement YouTube and TikTok. Who knows. Maybe they’ll come back strong.

Picture: William Krause

on Xataka | Maybe it’s not strictly necessary for all apps to be like Clubhouse.