STREAM OF PASSION
A Prog writer considers the pros and cons of live streaming in the Covid-19 era.
Since March, the coronavirus pandemic has wrought havoc upon the live music scene. Numerous bands – including Pendragon – were forced to abort ongoing tours and many and have now been postponed or cancelled completely.
Consequently many artists who depend on playing live for a significant portion of their revenues are in dire financial straits. Some governments have been more interventionist than others in supporting the arts. The UK government’s £1.6 billion bailout announced in early July was overdue but very welcome. However, it’s not a panacea for many of the artists in this magazine.
Several decades ago most bands – prog or otherwise – treated touring as a loss-leader, which proved its financial worth in promoting sales of LPs and CDs. Since the advent of streaming, the business model has been flipped as such that touring sustains bands as a (sometimes marginally) profitable activity in itself.
With the opportunity to play live in the immediate future removed, many artists have harnessed the technology available to play free live stream concerts for fans. There have been some notable successes, such as the Prog From Home all-star event corralled by The Prog Report. Premiered on YouTube on May 9, it’s racked up well over 100,000 views.
Numerous artists have provided free live streams on a regular basis, such as Dream Theater’s Jordan Rudess. So far, so laudable, and free live streams maintain a musician’s profile. But there’s an inherent danger with free live streaming.
Two decades ago, Napster’s peer-to-peer file sharing software proved a significant thorn in the music industry’s side, depriving labels – and, in turn, artists – of vast revenues. Regrettably, a significant minority of the music audience embraced “free” music. Subsequently many listeners have subscribed to streaming services such as Spotify, whether on a paid or free basis.
But make no mistake: while attractive to many fans, streaming has done huge financial damage to many progressive rock artists, with sales of physical product continuing to fall. Music fans swiftly adopted and got used to streaming. The peril of free live streaming is that the audience may get used to “no-charge” performances equally swiftly.
Musicians should not undersell themselves. Business 101 is that a product – whether physical goods or a service – is worth whatever someone is prepared to pay for it. It’s all very well putting virtual tip jars in place, a better solution would be for musicians to charge a minimum amount for access to a live stream – but then allow the listener to pay more if they wish.
With digital streaming services having undermined sales of physical music so significantly, artists risk greatly reducing another source of their income if they allow free live streaming to become the norm.
NICK SHILTON
Got an opinion on the matter that you’d like to share? Please email us at: prog@futurenet.com. Opinions expressed in this column aren’t necessarily those of the magazine.