Twitter starts rolling out Ticketed Spaces for some iOS users
What's the story
Twitter has been planning to monetize its Clubhouse-rival called Twitter Spaces ever since the new feature debuted. Now, the microblogging platform has announced that some iOS users would be able to charge an entry fee from attendees wanting to listen to their Spaces.
Ticketed Spaces, as the paid version is called, are iOS-exclusive for now but Twitter hopes to make it widely available soon.
Do you know?
Twitter had announced Ticketed Spaces right when the concept debuted
Twitter introduced Spaces when Clubhouse's audio-based interaction format was gathering steam. Recently, Twitter even announced that Spaces could show up in the space formerly allocated to Twitter Fleets—the platform's disappearing tweets section that was copied from the likes of Snapchat and Instagram Stories.
Experimental
Twitter opened applications for testing Ticketed Spaces in June
Ticketed Spaces are experimentally available to a small subset of Twitterati. The application process for the same was opened in June. Only accounts with over 1,000 followers could apply to try out Ticketed Spaces.
At the time, Twitter said that tickets to attend such Spaces could be priced anywhere between $1 and $999 apiece. The number of attendees can be capped as well.
Driving adoption
Twitter planned to subsidize commission to encourage using Ticketed Spaces
Twitter has made it amply clear that Ticketed Spaces will eventually be rolled out to everyone on the platform, no holds barred.
To encourage creators to use Ticketed Spaces actively, the tech giant promised to take a subsidized three percent cut from ticket sales excluding Google/Apple's fee and processing fee.
Once a creator crosses $50,000 in earnings, Twitter would take a 20 percent commission.
Opportunity
Ticketed Spaces could be a huge opportunity for creators
Twitter's Ticketed Spaces could be the factor that differentiates the microblogging platform's audio-based social media offering from rival services such as Facebook Live Audio Rooms and the original Clubhouse app.
Tellingly, this could translate into a huge opportunity for influencers on Twitter since many have spent years on the platform growing their audiences with rather few ways to monetize the growth and their presence.