Invitation-only Clubhouse has partnered with the TED media organization to release exclusive audio chats.
The first room, Thank Your Ass Off, launches today at 11 a.m. ET with hosts A.J. Jacobs (journalist, author, and self-proclaimed human guinea pig) and social impact strategist Mir Harris. Every Monday, the pair invite guests and other Clubhouse creators to “conquer the negative bias and thank the unsung heroes of our lives,” according to the program page. Existing members can tune in each week; everyone else must download the mobile app to reserve a username and request early access. Additional shows and presenters will be announced in the coming weeks.
TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) in February launched an Audio Collective to house its growing collection of podcasts, which, at the time, counted 1.65 million downloads per day “in virtually every country on Earth.” Such a loyal following could, as The Verge noted, eventually lead to these exclusive chats being distributed outside the Clubhouse app.
Originally designed for podcasts under the name Talkshow, the platform was rebranded as Clubhouse and officially released in March 2020. Two months later, it hired Kelly Stoetzel, former head of conferences and speaker curation at TED, sealing the deal on an inevitable alliance. As per this arrangement, TED can sell ads and sponsorships without Clubhouse taking a cut.
Clubhouse has a lot of competition in the form of Spotify Greenroom, Facebook Audio, Reddit Talk, and Twitter Spaces—the latter recently stole Clubhouse’s NFL Draft Week thunder by announcing its own plans for 20 live audio chats during the 2021 season.
