Is listening the new seeing?

In the attention economy companies are not only competing for user’s eyes, but also for their ears. The new social media app club house is spreading like wildfire, and their offering is easy: create a profile and start talking to each other. No messaging, no pictures, only audio. Several other social media platforms are gearing towards audio content. Twitter launched Audio Spaces, and Discord, the audio platform primarily used by gamers, is branching out to a bigger audience.

Spotify is making a big effort to become a platform for podcast listening. They have spent over 8 billion SEK in becoming world leaders in podcast, making this change of strategy the biggest since the company started.

Snippets of code have been found in the latest version of Netflix’s Android app showing that the streaming giant may be testing out a new audio-only mode. The snippets say, “Save your data by turning off the video and listening to your favourite shows,” and “The video is off, but you can continue listening to your show while you are busy doing other things.”

Where does this increased interest in audio come from? Is it an unexplored sense companies have yet to capitalise on? Is it an answer to the boredom of lockdown? Is it the possibility of multi-tasking by listening and doing at the same time?