Twitter Spaces Opens Spark Social Audio Accelerator to Support Creators
Twitter is starting an accelerator program called Spark for social audio show creators on Twitter Spaces. The three-month Spark program is looking for innovative and committed current, and potential Spaces show hosts to offer Twitter’s financial, technical, and promotional support, much like social audio rival Clubhouse’s Creator First accelerator program.
Spaces Sparks
The Twitter Spaces Spark accelerator is soliciting ideas from those with a show already and those who haven’t created one yet. The Spark application form is open for submissions until Oct. 22, and Twitter will let those chosen for the program know soon after. Participants will need to host their Space twice a week during the three-month program. Twitter didn’t indicate how many people they want in the cohort, though the number may depend on how many the company deems worth supporting. Twitter isn’t skimping in that regard, either. Spark participants will get a $2,500 monthly stipend plus custom Spaces merchandise and ad credits on Twitter to promote the show. Twitter product leadership will host a virtual kick-off and provide early Twitter product and feature access to participants to get the word further out. Twitter’s social media and other content will highlight the shows during the program and potentially make the Spaces easier to discover on the Twitter app.
“We want to help the new and next generation of social audio Creators build their audience, experiment with content, and establish a foundation for future success,” “People on Twitter have been embracing Spaces as a new canvas for conversation and finding creative ways to lean in. We recognize the hard work it takes to create audio content that’s compelling, engaging, and keeps people coming back. And above all else, we believe in the potential of people’s ideas and the potential of live social audio, and we see an opportunity to help audio content Creators — like you — take off.”
Showtime
The parallels to Clubhouse’s Creator First program are fairly obvious. The initial, international Creator First cohort recruited 25 shows covering a vast range of topics and geography. Each creator earned $5,000 a month during the accelerator, along with technical equipment and production support for getting guests, setting up sponsorships, and making the show run smoothly. The success of the first iteration led Clubhouse to start country-specific versions for India and Brazil. The event-focused idea of social audio is becoming a central element for the growing industry. Spotify is funneling resources into new shows and projects for its social audio app, Greenroom, while Discord has made its Stage Channels platform a showcase of celebrities and events. Facebook’s new Live Audio Rooms and the rumored Amazon social audio platform seem to be heading in the same direction.
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