Photo Credit: Dmitry Mashkin
Clubhouse has officially debuted Music Mode, “a new setting that helps you sound your best when performing on” the social-audio platform.
Clubhouse, which developed a significant following (and secured ample funding) after arriving on the scene in March of 2020, just recently unveiled the rollout of Music Mode in a “Product Update” blog post. According to this brief article, “Music Mode optimizes Clubhouse to broadcast your music with high quality and great stereo sound” – including support for “professional audio equipment…like external USB microphones or mixing boards.”
Clubhouse users can activate Music Mode when speaking in a room by tapping “the three dots” in the app’s upper-right corner. Said dots will bring up a menu with settings including “Audio Quality,” and “Music” can be selected via the latter.
Listeners, for their part, will “be able to hear stereo audio” while using headphones, a speaker, or only a phone, according to Clubhouse higher-ups, who’ve also “added stereo support to Clips” so performance audio can be shared in high quality. And regarding the timing of Music Mode’s debut, “as was the case with spatial audio,” the feature “will roll out on iOS first with Android as a fast follow.”
In the coming months, it’ll be worth following the impact (and user reception) of Clubhouse’s Music Mode, as some evidence suggests that interest in the all-audio platform is waning. Moreover, Clubhouse is now facing direct competition from Twitter, Facebook, Spotify, Amazon, and other well-established services yet, while the debut of the Creator First Program has reportedly proven rocky.
Plus, it remains to be seen whether the overarching offering – that is, social audio itself – will continue to appeal to users in the long term, as live entertainment and related functions return to and exceed their pre-pandemic volume.
On the other side of the coin, Clubhouse raised a reported $100 million, as previously alluded to, at 2021’s start – meaning that capital doesn’t seem to be a pressing issue for the company. Additionally, the service is investing in audio “shows,” some of which appear to resemble podcasts; all manner of funding is continuing to reach the latter sphere.
Similarly, notwithstanding in-person concerts’ ongoing comeback, investments, expansions, and acquisitions are continuing to broaden the livestream-concert space. With the above-described arrival of Music Mode, Clubhouse could appeal to casual performers in the ever-crowded livestream arena – or compete directly with leading companies by adding a simple video-feed option for creators.