Spotify is shutting down its standalone live audio app

Spotify is shutting down Spotify Live, the company told Music Ally on Monday. Previously known as Spotify Greenroom, the standalone live audio app came out of Spotify’s $62 million acquisition of Betty Labs in 2021. Shortly after the deal went through, Spotify rebranded the startup’s Locker Room app to Spotify Greenroom, and expanded the scope of the experience to include topics outside of sports. Then, almost exactly a year ago, the streaming giant renamed the platform yet again and integrated some of its functionality into the main Spotify app.

“After a period of experimentation and learnings around how Spotify users interact with live audio, we’ve made the decision to sunset the Spotify Live app,” a Spotify spokesperson told Music Ally. “We believe there is a future for live fan-creator interactions in the Spotify ecosystem; however, based on our learnings, it no longer makes sense as a standalone app. We have seen promising results in the artist-focused use case of ‘listening parties,’ which we will continue to explore moving forward to facilitate live interactions between artists and fans.”

Spotify did not immediately respond to Engadget’s request for comment. However, the company shared confirmation of the impending shutdown with TechCrunch. When Spotify first announced it was moving into live audio at the height of the medium in 2021, CEO Daniel Ek predicted the format would become ubiquitous. "Just like Stories with video where every major platform has them as one way for its audience to communicate with each other, I see live audio similarly," he said at the time. "I expect all the platforms to have it."

However, at the end of last year, the company canceled a host of live audio shows, signaling a scaling back of its previous ambitions. It’s worth noting Spotify is not the only company to pull back from the format. Last May, Facebook parent company meta announced it was shutting down a host of audio products, including Soundbites, the short-form audio-sharing tool it introduced in 2021.