LinkedIn users can still create audio-only streaming events via LinkedIn Live, but they will need to use third-party services to do so.
LinkedIn has axed Audio Events, its standalone audio streaming feature, joining tech giants like Spotify and Amazon in moving away from Clubhouse-inspired products.
First introduced in 2022, Audio Events allowed people to create and host audio-only events, where participants could log in and talk, not too dissimilar to iOS and Android app Clubhouse.
From December 2, 2024, onwards, users will no longer be able to stream Audio Events on LinkedIn without using a third-party platform, though they will still be able to record these events using LinkedIn Live.
If you have an Audio Event scheduled before December 31 you can still host it as usual. But if your Audio Event is scheduled for after that, you'll need to create a new event through LinkedIn Live by December 15, because the original event will have been removed.
Audio-only streaming tools had a moment in the spotlight over the Covid-19 pandemic, but may now have fallen from the height of their popularity.
Clubhouse launched for iOS and Android in April 2023 at the height of the pandemic and rapidly picked up a $1 billion valuation, and over 8 million signups just over a year after launch according to data from App Annie. The platform hosted celebrity guests like Mark Zuckerberg, Lex Friedman, and Elon Musk during the pandemic, just months after its launch. The New Yorker claimed that invites were at one point going for $400 each.
Many of tech's largest platforms swiftly moved in on Clubhouse's teriority. Twitter rolled out Spaces, to select users in November 2020, before rolling it out publically in May 2021.
Reddit also joined the growing line of social media platforms to take on the audio-only app Clubhouse, launching Reddit Talk in April 2021.
Spotify introduced Greenroom in June 2021, which was later rebranded as Spotify Live. However, Spotify Live was shut down on April 30, 2023, with Spotify saying it "no longer makes sense as a stand-alone app."
Meanwhile, Amazon's music-focused spin on the Clubhouse audio app -- DJ 'Amp' App -- shut down in October 2023 after just over a year in operation.