New Delhi: Clubhouse, an invite-only audio chat app, will soon introduce payment features in India, allowing users to pay creators for the shows they host on the platform. The feature is already live in the United States.
The year-old social media firm is also working towards complying with India’s new IT rules.
“…right now our startup is it’s still small, staffing wise, right we’re just over a year old, and, and I don’t think the government has laid out all the details around how these laws will apply to companies at different stages, but our goal is to work to ensure that the platform is in line with the country’s laws and regulations. And so that’s absolutely on our radar and something we’ll be working towards,” said Rohan Seth, co-founder of Clubhouse.
Clubhouse’s Android app, which was launched recently, has been downloaded more than one million times in India, according to data by app analytics platform Sensor Tower. Globally the figure stands at 2.6 million.
“We launched payments for a few in the US and then scaled it up. We want to make sure the experience is good. India is going to be one of the few early markets to get it…right now, we want to make sure we cover compliance and users in India,” Seth told ET during a select clubhouse media briefing.
Paul Davison, co-founder and CEO of Clubhouse said, “…we want to roll out basic payments in coming months followed by other payments features.”
The company is also working on launching tips and subscriptions. “There’s no timeline for tips and subscriptions for India. But, we want to do it,” Seth said.
Davison said that Clubhouse’s business model revolves around creators and new features will help them monetise their content.
Asked about competition from Twitter Spaces, Davison said that it is not surprising to see other platforms launching audio features. “We have seen that already. Voice is an important feature. There will be new products. We never tried to focus on competition, rather focused on the product and community. We are building the best experience,” Davison said.
Seth said that the company’s invite-only system is helping ensure that the experience is maintained for users. “The invite system is there because we are trying to grow slowly. We are interested in rolling out to the whole world. We need to invest in that infrastructure and we are continuously doing that.”
