Will Clubhouse Replace Podcasting?

I’ve heard this question asked many times now.

The answer is no. In fact, my podcasting company, In-depth Creative, is benefiting from the rise of Clubhouse (CH). I believe that podcasting and CH complement each other and can help us reach new audiences.

Clubhouse which launched in mid 2020 is an audio only social media app offering drop-in style audio conversations. You can follow other members and listen to live group discussions based on your specific interests or your connections. It works well. 

The main difference between the podcast platform and Clubhouse, is that podcasts are recorded and are an on-demand media while Clubhouse offers unrecorded audio which is distributed live. There are pluses and minuses to both. On-demand allows the audience to listen on their own terms which can be days, months or even years after the episode was published, while CH app requires you to be in a room at the scheduled time and if you missed it, you missed it. But the live nature can also be enticing, as you never know if your favorite speaker or thought leader may jump into a discussion and say something revealing. Or perhaps you just have the fear of missing out, so you will want to stay active on the app looking for the latest insights or gossip. The audio quality on CH isn’t the best, but it’s good enough for discussions. Podcasting however allows us to create very high-quality and sound rich episodes which are crucial for narrative-driven content or audio documentaries.

Podcasts are distributed via RSS feeds (a 21-year-old file syndication system) and are usually accessible by any platform that wishes to use the RSS feed, rather than app specific. CH audio is only accessible through their app. But app-exclusive audio content isn’t an entirely foreign method of podcast distribution (and eventually, monetization). Even here in Indonesia, where podcasting is still at a nascent stage, some podcast shows or networks (Inspigo, Noice) use their own app to distribute their podcast content, not live content.

Some argue that CH may have the upper hand over podcasting as it has more audience engagement. Since podcasts aren’t live, there is little, if any, real time interaction between the hosts and audience. CH allows the audience to engage with the hosts and speakers during the live discussion. CH currently doesn’t have a record button, but the company is reportedly working on adding one in the near future. In my opinion, if it does allow for recording, then that would be positive for podcasters as it would make it even easier to create discussion-based or chit-chat episodes as it could all be done on a single app.

Now, if your podcast relies heavily on an interview-based or panel discussion and treats podcasting strictly as a means of distribution, then yes, perhaps there might be some “migration” from your podcast to CH as your listeners may want to access the latest live and “exclusive” discussions. Meanwhile, others may not have an opportunity to join your live CH discussion as they may be busy or in another time zone sleeping. But, if you produce a narrative or story driven podcast with immersive sound design as we do, podcasting easily has the upper hand as we can post produce our content and require high quality audio.

If you are using the podcast medium as a creative platform rather than strictly as a distribution mechanism as we do at In-depth Creative, then you will be excited with the rise of CH as this allows to have another outlet to complement your podcasts and have more opportunities to engage our audience by hosting your own clubs or joining others in rooms that have similar interests or are in your industry/profession. As a narrative and story driven podcast production company, we are always exploring new ways to test content and format. As we always want to gain insights from our listeners through Q&A and meet more potential guests, CH allows us to do just that. 

At the end of the day, we don’t have to choose between CH or podcasting when it comes to spoken-word content, we can use both to achieve different goals. 

There are many ways to use both platforms to share spoken-word content. For example, say I’m recording a podcast episode with a guest, I can record normally with my podcast equipment in the studio but also open the app and with a few cables, share my discussion live with a CH audience. It’s not fancy but works good enough. Going the other direction (CH to podcasting) works as well despite the fact that CH doesn’t have a recording option in the app. Say you want to save your CH discussion and use it as a podcast episode later, you just need to use a (TRRS) cable from the phone to a recorder. Just remember to get permission to record from your participants so you don’t violate CH’s terms and conditions. This allows you to reach two different audiences with one discussion.

In my opinion, the more platforms that allow us to engage audiences and make our content more accessible to listeners, the better. We are focused on sharing our audio content and not committed to RSS or diehard fans of that technology, we just care about reaching audiences. CH is just another way for us to communicate and the more communication the better. 

Looking forward to things to come!