Skip to main content

Clubhouse is funding 50 pilot audio shows from creators

Clubhouse is funding 50 pilot audio shows from creators

/

Participants get $5,000 a month through the three-month pilot

Share this story

Clubhouse App Photo Illustrations
Photo Illustration by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Clubhouse is funding the creation of 50 audio shows made by creators on its platform. The concepts include everything from an interview series with Taryn Southern to a pair of shows discussing the culture of hairstyles to a game show called “Serial Killer Speed Dating.”

Participants will each get a $5,000-per-month stipend for three months, plus gear and creative support, to help them create the series. The goal is to develop and pilot each show over the next three months. If shows take off, there’s a possibility Clubhouse will sign some of them to a longer-term deal.

Clubhouse’s goal is to “support new voices” on its platform

This is the first round of creators to benefit from Clubhouse’s accelerator program, which it says will “help support new voices with tools and resources to unlock their creativity on the platform.” Clubhouse says it’s not taking any ownership of the content or shows that creators develop. “The goal is to ensure that the creators themselves enjoy complete control and ownership over their creative output,” Clubhouse says. 

Clubhouse announced its accelerator program back in March ahead of the service’s first anniversary. Its popularity with the Silicon Valley venture capitalist crowd has led to a large amount of early buzz around the service that’s arguably disproportionate to its mainstream popularity. For example, as of this writing, you still need an invite to sign up for Clubhouse, and it doesn’t have an Android app. Despite this, a recent funding round valued the company at $4 billion.

Established tech firms have responded to Clubhouse with plans to build similar social audio features into their own services. Facebook, Twitter, Spotify, Slack, LinkedIn, and Discord have all expressed varying levels of interest in launching their own Clubhouse-style features. With competitors circling, Clubhouse’s success is likely to rely on the strength of the creators found on its platform. Initiatives like its accelerator program appear designed to help with exactly that.

Correction May 5th, 2:02PM ET: Clubhouse’s most recent valuation is $4 billion; it was valued at $1 billion in January.