Facebook’s podcast offerings disappear just a year after launch. Owned by parent company Meta approved with Bloomberg Podcasting said it would shut down Soundbites and the general audio hub. It will no longer allow podcasters to add shows to Facebook as of this week and will remove them entirely on June 3. The Hub and Soundbites will shut down “in the coming weeks,” while Live Audio Rooms will join Facebook Live.
A Meta spokesperson described the move as a matter of concentration. According to the representative, this move will help Meta “focus on the most meaningful experiences.”
In recent weeks, Meta lose interest highlighting on podcasts and hotter products like Facebook’s main feed and Instagram’s Reels. A Meta spokesperson said there has been a good response to their voice service. Bloomberg But the news outlet’s sources said the social media firm is more interested in emphasizing the metaverse and exchange when speaking to podcast partners. Simply put, Meta’s interests in conquering competitors like AR, VR, and TikTok may have distracted him from sound.
Facebook also has fiercer competition in the audio-only space. Podcast app operators like Apple and Spotify were already big threats, but there were also a number of efforts to emulate Clubhouse in 2021. Meta has had to counter Facebook’s services to the likes of Twitter Spaces and Reddit Talk. Even with a well-known name and huge resources, there was no guarantee that Facebook would stand out in this market.
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