Natalie DeCoste

Spotify is venturing into the burgeoning live-audio market with the acquisition of Betty Labs, the makers of live-audio social app Locker Room.

Locker Room is part of the growing market for live audio apps currently on the market, including Twitter Spaces, Clubhouse, and Discord. Locker Room has quickly become the spot for sports fans to gather to hear about games and news.

Those who have been featured on the app include Miami Heat forward Andre Iguodala, Philadelphia 76ers guard Seth Curry, podcaster Ant Wright, and ESPN’s Jeff Darlington. The app helped to fill the real-time, interactive void for sports fans left by COVID-19 lockdowns.

According to a person familiar with the transaction, the deal values Locker Room’s creator Betty Labs at roughly $50 million. If specific targets are met, the value of the company could rise closer to $80 million. The company was initially backed by Lightspeed Venture Partners, and more recently by Google Ventures and Precursor Ventures.

“We are excited to join forces with Spotify and contribute to building the future of audio—we’ll invest more in our product, open the experience to Spotify’s audience, diversify our content offerings, and continue expanding the community we’ve built. With Spotify, we’ll continue to offer the best home for sports fans and use the lessons we’ve learned along the way to create the ultimate destination for live conversation around music and culture,” said Betty Labs Founder and CEO Howard Akumiah.

This is the latest move for Spotify who has already made significant investments in prerecorded podcast content.

“Creators and fans have been asking for live formats on Spotify, and we’re excited that soon, we’ll make them available to hundreds of millions of listeners and millions of creators on our platform. The world already turns to us for music, podcasts, and other unique audio experiences, and this new live audio experience is a powerful complement that will enhance and extend the on-demand experience we provide today,” said Gustav Söderström, Chief Research & Development Officer at Spotify.

In the next few months, Spotify will evolve and expand Locker Room into an enhanced live audio experience for a broader range of creators and fans. This new live audio experience will allow Spotify to offer a range of sports, music, and cultural programming, as well as a host of interactive features that enable creators to connect with audiences in real-time.

Spotify hopes to feature professional athletes, writers, musicians, songwriters, podcasters, and other global voices on the new feature. These people will have the opportunity to host real-time discussions, debates, ask me anything (AMA) sessions, and more.

The move is a sign that Spotify is betting on live audio apps lasting longer than the pandemic that spurred their creation.

The Locker Room app is less than a year old, having launched in October of last year. According to app research firm Sensor Tower Inc, the app has seen about 19,000 installs since it was released. In March alone, the company has had roughly 8,000 installs, already representing 60% month-over-month growth from all of February.