Is There a Future for Clubhouse?
If you keep up to date with the latest industry trends, you have almost certainly heard the buzz around “Clubhouse.” The recently developed app allows users to listen-in on and participate in topic based discussions on their audio-only platform. While you can find executives from a variety of industries on the app, including Elon Musk and Oprah, the music industry has almost claimed Clubhouse as their own with an influx of artists, executives, and aspiring music industry students utilizing the platform to have insightful discussions about the future of the industry, host networking events, and give students the ability to listen in on the conversations of top industry execs.
Clubhouse has a unique appeal to the music industry, and executives of many professions, for various convincing reasons. The app is relatively new, getting its start in September 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, professionals everywhere were in constant search for innovative ways to connect with one another and to find new platforms to change up the typical Zoom pace. Clubhouse acted as the solution to “Zoom fatigue.” Given that the app is audio-based and therefore has no camera option, no one has to worry about looking presentable from their waist up anymore. Moreover, the app is more portable and events are more accessible than on Zoom. You can listen to an insightful conversation from your car on the go, and do not have to worry about what is going on in your background. Discussions are open to anyone on the app, and therefore the average user can hear insight from people like Scooter Braun and Drake without an invite. That is, if they have an invite to the application in the first place. One of Clubhouse’s most notable features is its exclusivity, in that you need an invitation to join the app. This exclusivity makes it more appealing to users who want to feel as though they have an extra “in” in their respective industry.
Now, as the United States is opening back up again with vaccinations reaching at-risk populations across the country, will Clubhouse’s popularity remain steady, or will it tumble and eventually fade into the background with other social media platforms to the likes of Periscope or MySpace?
It’s hard for anyone to know the answer to this question, but there are a couple things to take note of about Clubhouse’s recent activity–
Clubhouse was downloaded fewer than 930,000 times in April. To put this number into perspective, the application gained 8 Million installations from January to February of 2021. This is not necessarily a sign that Clubhouse is doomed– if the 10 Million users that are already on the app continue to use it at the rate that they are, the app could still hold longevity. This number means that those who want to download Clubhouse already have. If Clubhouse installs new features and ways for users to utilize the platform, these users may remain engaged for long enough to keep Clubhouse afloat.
Clubhouse is currently invite only, and was only suitable for Apple until their Android launch in May. Their Android launch helped contribute about 1 million additional app downloads, with millions more users on the Clubhouse waitlist according to CEO Paul Davison. Could the Android launch, and Davison’s plan to get rid of the invite-only policy, be enough to keep up Clubhouse’s momentum?
Clubhouse has received arguably valid criticism about it’s lack of a plan for “moderating content.” Tatiana Wal-Morris, writer for Vanity Fair, wrote that the app has “become a haven for the powerful to flirt with misogyny and racism” due to its lack of regulation and the freedom that comes along with an audio only app where anything can be said. Will this issue be the reason for the downfall of Clubhouse, or will Clubhouse find a way to institute regulations on conversation topics?
While numbers slow down and professionals predict that the app may be on its decline, only time will tell if Clubhouse will have a lasting life in the social media world. To take full advantage of Clubhouse while it’s here, you can follow these music industry “clubs” to keep up to date with beneficial panel discussions and networking events:
GBTRS (Girls Behind The Rock Show)
Do you see a future for the Clubhouse app?
https://www.chron.com/business/technology/article/is-Clubhouse-app-worth-it-15887228.php
https://www.imore.com/clubhouse-was-downloaded-fewer-930000-times-april
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/12/the-murky-world-of-moderation-on-clubhouse