Spoon is a social

digital audio Digital audio is a representation of sound recorded in, or converted into, digital signal (signal processing), digital form. In digital audio, the sound wave of the audio signal is typically encoded as numerical sampling (signal processing), ...

live

streaming service Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...

. It is developed by Spoon Radio Inc., a

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

-based company with a US office located in San Francisco, California. It allows users to listen to streamers and even start their own live streams using their smartphones and web, without any other equipment. It provides services in four languages, including

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, and Middle Eastern and North African regions. Spoon Office

History

CEO Neil Choi, together with founders Hyuk Jun Choi and Hee-jae Lee, started their company Mykoon in 2013 with Plugger, a smartphone battery sharing service. They created Spoon Radio as their flagship on March 23, 2016. Two years since its inception, it got its backing in

Series B funding A venture round is a type of funding round used for venture capital financing, by which startup companies obtain investment, generally from venture capitalists and other institutional investors. The availability of venture funding is among the p ...

from investors – namely Softbank Ventures Asia, KB Investment (KBIC), and Goodwater Capital – wherein they invested a total of $17 million. As part of its global expansion effort, Spoon has also hired Fernando Pizarro, media and internet executive from Disney, Discovery Communications and Yahoo!, as vice president.

Reception

By August 2018, the application has generated net revenue that surpassed more than $20 million, becoming the most famous audio-only streaming service in South Korea. Popular among the youth between ages 18 to 24 years old, Spoon has been downloaded 2.5 million times daily and there have been millions of broadcast uploads. It has expanded to Japan, US, and to different countries. In 2019, it has generated net revenue of $41 million.

Features

Spoon is an internet-radio broadcasting mobile application which allows its users to stream through audio alone, hence the catchphrase "live stream without a camera". Listeners can give their favorite streamers digital gifts called "Spoons" which then can be redeemed for money. There is a Live Call feature which lets streamers invite other streamers or even their listeners to co-host the stream with them. * Live Live-streaming is Spoon's most definitive feature. Users can start live broadcasting by simply setting the title and a background image within the app or web. The host, or the "streamer," can interact with the listeners through text-based chats or audio-based live streams. * Podcast Podcast is pre-recorded content. Spoon currently allows its users to either upload a pre-recorded audio file as podcasts or save live streams. * Talk In Talk, users post short discussion topics and can post comments using their voice. At the moment, Talk is only available in the app version. *Live Call At the moment, Spoon allows for a call between a streamer and up to four of their listeners. The streamer, when setting up a live stream, must enable this feature before the live stream begins. The listeners can then call in via clicking the phone icon on the screen. The streamer can then choose which "call" to pick up - and, should the need arise, terminate the call at will. * Voice profile The Voice profile is where users can upload a short clip of their voices. Other users can come to the profile and rate the voice by over 14 different voice types (Sweet, Cute, Flirty, Scary, Soft, Warm, Gentle, Cool, Funny, Friendly, Husky, Powerful, Tough, Romantic).

Originals

Apart from user-created content, Spoon also offers Originals, where the contents are done by celebrities or professionals in the entertainment industry.

References

External links

Spoon Radio Home Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spoon (Radio) Mass media companies established in 2016 Internet properties established in 2016 2016 establishments in South Korea Internet radio South Korean brands Live broadcasting Companies based in Seoul

Streaming media systems Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a Computer network, network for playback using a Media player (disambiguation), media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of Network packet, packets from a Server (computing), ...