Facebook has decided to shut down its Podcast service. Podcasts on Facebook won’t be available starting June 3. The company is also removing short-form audio products called Soundbites and the central audio hub. The company will integrate Live Audio Rooms into Facebook Live. So, users can choose if they want to go live with just audio or audio and video.
A Meta spokesperson also spoke to Bloomberg and said that the move will help Meta “focus on the most meaningful experiences.”
Facebook confirmed that it won’t alert users about shutting down podcasts and leave it to publishers to decide how they want to tell their users about it.
Last year, Facebook introduced several audio products including podcasts to take on Clubhouse and Spotify. But these products didn’t do well. A few days back, it was reported that Meta is now losing interest in podcasts. The company is now focusing on short-video projects, e-commerce products, and the metaverse. Now we have the final decision from the company.
Facebook was getting tough competition from Apple and Spotify in the Podcast space and most of the creators are actually choosing Apple and Spotify over Facebook for hosting podcasts. Live audio room is also not doing well as most users are still using Clubhouse, Twitter Spaces, and Reddit Talk. The company was investing much but the results were not positive in terms of growth. So, the company decided to focus on things that are actually working for it.
