Podcasters Want to Go Live On Spotify (Again)

From left: Morgan Absher, Host of Two Hot Takes, “The Bachelorette” star Rachel Lindsay, Jake Shane, Host of Therapuss and Roman Wasenmüller, Head of Podcast Business at Spotify. Photo by Getty Images for Spotify.

Kaya Yurieff

Podcasters are a visible presence at Cannes Lions this year, joining the several hundred creators in attendance.

I caught up with three of them—Jake Shane, Rachel Lindsay and Morgan Ashley Absher— at Spotify’s beachfront event, and asked them what features they’d like to see Spotify roll out next.

Their answer surprised me: They want Spotify to bring back its Clubhouse competitor Greenroom, later renamed Spotify Live, so they can host live versions of their podcasts on the app. Spotify shut the standalone Spotify Live app down in 2023, though it said at the time it would continue to “explore” live features. Other platforms also shut down their live audio features after excitement around the format—which surged during the pandemic shutdowns—fizzled.