Clubhouse, the hotter-than-fish-grease audio social network, has been all anyone has been talking about for the last year and a half. Now, with a recent funding round evaluating the company at $4 billion, Clubhouse is putting dollars into funding a slate of audio pilots.

The Creator First Pilot Season, which was designed to help support new voices on the platform, will hand a slew of innovative talents $5,000 a month for three months as support with the company saying that this is just the “beginning of a significant wave of new programming." Each pilot will feature a panel of judges who will listen and decide which shows go forward as Clubhouse-backed shows on an ongoing basis. All Clubhouse members will be able to listen to the pilots and the Creators will retain all IP to their shows.

First announced back in March ahead of the service’s first anniversary, Silicon Valley felt the buzz around the service and ensured that money would flow right into the audio app’s coffers. While those with Android mobile devices still need an invite to sign up for Clubhouse (there is no app yet for it) — this hasn’t stopped shows like The Psychic Pool Party or The Salty Vagabonds Club from taking shape.

Other tech platforms such as Twitter, Spotify, Slack, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Discord have all expressed their own varying levels of interest in launching their own Clubhouse-style features and original programming. With competition ramping up, Clubhouse’s success is going to depend on the strength, style, and substance of the creators found on its platform.

Here's a sampling of some of the Black-creative content from the Creator First Pilot Season below:

  • “Culture Collector” by Samia Grand-Pierre: Weekly thought-provoking conversations centered around sneaker culture, fashion, music, art collecting, and media headlines.
  • “On the Bench” by Darius Butler: Current, former, and future pros are asked to discuss their personal experiences and current events in sports.
  • “Beats, Rhymes & Strings” by Butterscotch: Music lovers and professionals assemble in this LGBTIA-inclusive, weekly performance series that ends in a unique combination of Q&A and group performance.
  • Be Well, Sis” by Cassandre Dunbar: A weekly interactive show where women with diverse expertise and experiences come together to have an incredibly open and honest conversation that aims to make wellness more inclusive and give the audience real-time actionable insights to improve their wellbeing. Discussions range from the Black Maternal Health Crisis to Overcoming Imposter Syndrome to Incorporating Mindfulness in Daily Living and everything in between.
  • “Comedy Court” by CoreyBe Sherrill, Tina Graham, and Shaina Farrow: Have you been hurt by the justice system? Slighted by law? Or even just lost an argument with yourself in a mirror? There’s only one show where you can be unfairly judged by a panel of comedians. Speakers present their wrongly dismissed cases, grievances, and disputes to a jury of comedians and improvisers for a second opinion.
  • “UFO-logy” by Roderick Martin: Uncover the possibility of new truths and lies you never knew you were told, in a recurring UFO and extraterrestrial focused show hosted by one of the world’s only Black certified UFO investigators. This show asks for believers to not look up to the stars, but what’s happening here on earth with those who have been impacted.
  • “Jury Duty” by Lavender: The day’s hottest topics are put on the docket to be debated by a panel of 12 jurors with input from the audience. Everyone gets the chance to speak and make predictions when discussing and recapping high-profile cases.
  • “The History Of Hair” by Nibi Lawson: Through a variety of styles for each session — interviews, dialogue, poetry, and prose — this series creates a space to explore the history and culture of hair in all its wonderful, texturally diverse glory.
  • “Beauty Headlines” by Darian Symoné Harvin: A club for industry professionals, beauty junkies, and all those curious. We go beyond skin deep into the power of the beauty industry, why it holds so much influence, and how it shapes the way we see ourselves.
  • “Pretty Bad, Pretty Cool” by Kacie Willis: Giving A-list air time to B-list movies, television shows, and music to discover the value in every creation, even the very good/bad.