Everybody’s doing a brand-new gig as live-streaming takes centre stage
With live concerts on pause, online shows are helping to keep musicians afloat, writes Ben Woods
It was the kind of lavish spectacle that typifies a pop star’s comeback show. Flanked by back-up dancers on a light-popping stage, Kylie Minogue stepped out earlier this month for a live rendition of her new album Disco.
But despite the spectacular production value of the performance, a key ingredient was missing: thousands of screaming fans.
With the curtains drawn on the live music industry since March, the 52-year-old pop princess has joined the army of artists broadcasting their shows online.
Technology once deemed a novel addition to festivals and gigs has now become a lifeline for pop stars wanting to connect with fans during lockdown.
But as the live music industry braces for an 81pc plunge in income this year, can streaming really heal the wounds inflicted by the pandemic?
The technology has struggled to have a major impact on live music until now. As internet history goes, America’s Severe Tire Damage became the first rock band to play a live streamed performance when they strummed over a patchy internet connection way back in 1993. A year later, the amateur trio went on to make history when they opened the Rolling Stones’ first online concert. oncert.
It was no coincidence. nce. Mark Weiser, Severe Tire Damage’s drummer, worked for r California’s Xerox PARC, a computer uter research company that at created the technology making ng the first online concert a reality. ty.
Yet these early flourishes urishes did not herald a streaming ming boom. During the internet’s ernet’s infancy, the infrastructure cture was simply too fragile e to make it worthwhile.
Artists also had little le incentive to embrace it.
The song streaming revolution, which upended the recording ng industry, did not gather steam until the e turn of the millennium. Before the advent of platforms such as Napster – and more latterly Spotify and Apple Music – pop stars made far more money selling records than from putting on shows. Fast-forward nearly 20 years and concerts have become artists’ biggest money spinner, which in turn has helped fuel the popularity of live-streamed gigs.
America’s Coachella music festival made an impact nine years ago when it attracted more than 4m views by live-streaming 60 acts including Kanye West and Arcade Fire.
Video-sharing platforms have also helped by broadcasting live shows and becoming archives for recorded performances. America’s National Public Radio has 5m subscribers to its Youtube channel, largely driven by the intimate live performances from its Tiny Desk series.
But while the momentum has been
building behind virtual gigs, they have been free and remained second-class to buying a ticket for the real world performance. That has changed amid the tumult of the coronavirus crisis. With the £4.5bn live music sector still on pause, artists are piling into streaming technolo technology to create pay-per view ev events that plug the gap left by cancelled gigs and tours.
It has proven pro a lucrative alternative alternative. K-pop band BTS made $20m (£15m) from a single virtu virtual concert in June when more mor than 750,000 fans bought tic tickets.
In July, Irish singer songw songwriter Dermot Kenn Kennedy sold 30,000 ticke tickets at £13.50 a pop for h his live-stream from Lo London’s Natural History Museum.
That sh show was created by Driift, the virtual virtu producer and promoter behind behin online concerts for Laura Marling, Marlin Lianne La Havas and Kyle Minogue’s Minog live-stream last week. Founder Ric Salmon told Music Week tha that the company was certain the tec technology would become a “natural part” of an artist’s life. “Whatever way we look at it though, out of this dark time, this has truly been a ray of light,” he adds.
Positive news around a vaccine has given the industry hope for getting back on physical stages next year, but that remains months away and many are facing tough choices as cash reserves run out.
Of the 250 independent music venues that secured £41m from Culture Recovery Fund grants, can they afford to have one eye on the future when struggling with the here and now? Those that can may gain an advantage in the long run.
By investing in streaming technology now, venues can try to tap into an extra source of cash once lockdown ends. It will also help shield their business models should another pandemic rear its head.
Russ Tannen, chief revenue officer of Dice, the ticketing and live streaming service that supported Driift for Kylie’s show, says independent artists and venues were already benefiting from the technology’s heady rise. “There have been thousands of live streams this year – predominantly paid for – which have been extremely successful,” he adds.
Dice worked on a live stream with forthcoming Houston rapper Tobe Nwigwe, who sold as many tickets as the online concert for Laura Marling.
Yet live streaming is already proving to be more than just a sticking plaster for the industry. Billie Eilish’s livestreamed concert in October created an immersive world through XR – a type of augmented and virtual reality – where 500 fans could interact with her during the show.
It builds on the type of technology used by Melodyvr, the tech start-up that offers virtual reality gigs such as Liam Gallagher’s forthcoming Down by the River Thames performance.
If streaming becomes too appealing, live music venues could suffer the same disruption as cinemas.
Greg Parmley, chairman of industry body UK Live Music, says the pandemic has “massively accelerated” the adoption of technology but does not fear it will harm the sector.
“It’s a new frontier,” he adds. “It’s going to be a great additional revenue stream, or companion to live music.”
Tannen adds: “We are already seeing the next phase. It is hybrid events where you have a socially distanced audience in a room with a live-stream audience at home.”