Facebook Plans to go After Clubhouse by Launching a Suite of New Audio Products

Sources say that Facebook is planning to announce a series of Products under the social audio umbrella. The social network wants you to start talking and listening on Facebook. The new products include Facebook take on Clubhouse, the audio-only network which grew swiftly in the last year, as well as a push into the podcast discovery.

It is unclear what the timeline for these products Facebook will announce tomorrow. The sense is that the Rooms product which is a version of videoconferencing without video. It is likely the candidate to go live right away. Sources said the other products will not show up even in the beta form until later this spring.

All said and done, the announcements are meant to Signal CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s belief that his users are ready to use the voice and audio. He is not the only Big Tech executive who has gotten interested in the idea recently. Spaces has already been launched by Twitter, it is also its take on Clubhouse. Apple is preparing for a new subscription podcast service which it may announce as early as Tuesday.

Zuckerberg is scheduled to talk to technology journalist Casey Newton on Monday at 1 PM Eastern. Newton wrote that he and Zuckerberg will be talking about the wild transitional moment in tech and media. He also noted that Facebook is interested in the newsletter, live audio, and other technologies.

Recode’s query was answered by Facebook in the form of a non-comment response: “We’ve been connecting people through audio and video technologies for many years and are always exploring new ways to improve that experience for people.”