Clubhouse app rolls out monetisation feature for creators

Bengaluru: Invite-only social audio app Clubhouse has rolled out its first monetisation feature for creators on its platform.

Starting Monday, users will be able to send payments directly to other creators. Clubhouse said that the ability to receive payments is currently limited to a group of select users, but they will be rolling it every one in a phased manner.

To send money within the app, users can tap on the profile of the creator. If they have the feature enabled, one can tap "Send Money" option and enter the amount. Users will be asked to register a credit or debit card for the first transaction.

Clubhouse said the entire payment will go to the creator and it will not take any cut of the transaction. Stripe will however charge a nominal card processing fee to the user sending the payment.

This launch comes on the heels of Clubhouse debuting its first creator accelerator programme called 'Clubhouse Creator First' last month. Through this programme, the Andreessen Horowitz-backed startup aims to help 20 creators build their audience and monetize their shows.

In January, the one-year-old firm had stated plans to roll out a Creator Grant programme apart from conducting its first set of tests to allow creators to get paid directly through features like tipping, tickets or subscriptions.

This launch also comes at a time when several tech companies like Twitter, Spotify, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Discord among others are working on their own social audio offerings and are expected to roll it out in the following months.

As of now, Clubhouse is still restricted to iOS users while Twitter has started rolling out its own social audio offering Spaces to Android users last month and is expected to complete the rollout this month.