Facebook has officially launched Live Audio Rooms and podcasts for users in the U.S. These features will initially be available to select public figures and Facebook Groups.
Creators can earn revenue when listeners purchase and send them “Stars” in the live audio rooms. Facebook won’t take a commission from the earnings of creators until 2023. Hosts can also support nonprofit organizations and charities allowing listeners to donate directly from the live audio room.
Similar to other meeting room apps, users can “raise a hand”, share content and interact with reactions in real time. There is also support for live closed captions during the meetings which will behave like subtitles. At the moment, each meeting can support up to 50 speakers and no limit on the number of listeners. Furthermore, users will be notified when their friends or followers join the meeting.
In Groups, admins can control which users have permission to create a Live Audio Room. Also, anyone can join Live Audio Rooms from public Groups, however, only members can listen to them in private groups.
In addition to Live Audio Rooms, Facebook is also launching podcast support for certain creators. These creators include Joe Budden from The Joe Budden Podcast and Nicaila Matthews Okome of Side Hustle Pro, among others. Facebook will be continually adding new podcasts this summer. Users will be able to listen to podcasts as they browse Facebook or when their phone is locked.
According to Fidji Simo, head of the Facebook app, “Live Audio Rooms and podcasts rolling out in the US is just the beginning of our audio journey”.
Facebook is working on adding Soundbites – a feature that helps create and share short audio clips. This feature is expected to launch later this year.
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