Spotify Acquires Locker Room App Maker Betty Labs with Live Audio Push By Reuters

Elizabeth Califord

New York (Reuters)-Spotify (NYSE :) Inc announced on Tuesday that it will acquire Betty Labs, the company behind the sports-focused social audio app Locker Room, to accelerate the transition to live audio.

New voice-based platforms, including the invitation-only social app Clubhouse, have grown rapidly in recent months during the COVID-19 pandemic. Opened in October 2020, the locker room has become a popular spot for sports enthusiasts to chat and hold watch parties.

Music Streaming Service announced that it will “evolve and expand” the locker room in the coming months to offer sports, music and cultural programming, as well as live discussions with professional athletes, musicians and others. ..

“Creators and fans have been asking for a live format on Spotify, and we’re excited to see hundreds of millions of listeners and millions of creators available on the platform soon,” R & D said. The person in charge, Gustav Söderström, said. Spotify board member.

Spotify did not disclose the cost of the acquisition. Betty Labs was initially backed by Lightspeed Venture Partners and later by GV, Alphabet (NASDAQ :) Inc’s Venture Capital Division, and Precursor Ventures. Last October, Betty Labs raised $ 9.3 million in seed funding led by GV.

“We are excited to work with Spotify to continue building the future of audio. We will invest more in our products, open up the experience to Spotify viewers and diversify our content offerings. , We will continue to expand the community we have built. ” Howard Akumiah, Founder and CEO of Betty Labs.

Spotify is also focused on podcasting, spending hundreds of millions of dollars to expand the reach of podcasts and debuting the podcast advertising market.

Screenshots shared by Twitter users last week show that Spotify is investigating some users about how often they use Clubhouse. Twitter Inc (NYSE :) is also testing the Spaces live audio app, which will be open to the public by April. Facebook Inc (NASDAQ :) is reportedly working on its own live audio service.