As we enter the ‘new normal’ and adjust to life without concerts, musicians need to embrace live streams and the marketing power they provide.
There are very few things we miss about life before coronavirus more than concerts. Live music is a cathartic community-building experience unlike anything else our civilization has discovered, and many are reeling from its loss. We know we will be crowded in a sweaty venue again eventually, but the wait for that time feels eternal, which is why countless millions are turning to live streams to get their performance fix.
We will be the first to admit that live streams are nowhere near as fun or memorable as concerts. Performers often fumble with their equipment or meander from song to song with no real plan or purpose other than attempting to engage fans currently stuck at home under various coronavirus prevention measures. That said, some artists are finding ways to use live stream technology to their advantage, and that is what we want to focus on today.
Live streaming is a great way to make money and build an audience, but far too many musicians don’t consider it as such. Many think it is a temporary means to fill a void that will be immediately abandoned as soon as touring resumes. The thing is, no one knows when tours will happen again or when fans will feel safe attending gigs. Fans, for the most part, like the access and safety live stream performances make possible. They also want to support the artists who are going out of their way to be present with their audience during these strange times.
In this episode of Music Biz, host James Shotwell explains how anyone can build their audience and earn money with live streaming. We also explore the importance of investing in your live stream efforts and why the current trend of digital content won’t go away when the coronavirus pandemic ends.
Move over, Periscope. Facebook has its eyes on being the leader of live video broadcasting online and they are some would argue they’ve made it there already with Facebook Live. Made available to the public in early 2016, Facebook Live brings all the immediacy of Periscope and similar live broadcast applications to one social media site even your grandma knows by name, thus further eliminating the need for anyone to ever go anywhere or use anything else.
We’re not saying Facebook Live is better than Periscope (though we’ll probably compare them at some point in the near future), but it would be foolish to ignore the simplicity of attracting more people to your live broadcasts that Facebook Live promises. Even people who claim they don’t use Facebook likely have had or currently do have an account and know their way around the site. All the barriers that would typically come between your fans and live broadcast platforms up to this point (people need to know the app exists, have the app, and have an account on the app) do not exist with Facebook Live.
Getting started on Facebook Live is easy, but making the most of your time spent broadcasting is another task altogether. These tips will help:
Understand the requirements that need to be met in order to use Facebook Live
Facebook Live is available to anyone with an account and a decent internet connection. Before going live, make you that you have a fast enough connection to broadcast high quality live video, which generally means using WiFi or 4G. If these needs are not met the ‘Go Live’ button will not activate and you will be unable to broadcast.
Good promotion is key
Until you become Beyonce-level famous you are going to need a good plan for promoting every step of your career, including live broadcasts. Lucky for you, fans want more interaction with you, so promotion for these shows should be fairly straightforward: Set a date and time for your show, tell people when it’s happening, and remind them regularly until (and while) you’re live.
Building a crowd may take time, so don’t be afraid to broadcast for a long time.
Since anyone can use Facebook Live, many people do use Facebook Live, so the competition for attention can be fierce. Facebook recommends broadcasting for a minimum of ten minutes before you decide whether or not to remain online. Promotion will help get some people to your show on time, but others will arrive once your broadcast has already begun. See how things develop before you decide whether or not to continue using Facebook Live for your outreach.
Respond to comments, and remember to use the name of the commenter whenever possible
People like to be recognized. Let your fans know they are more than just another supporter to you by using their names whenever responding to comments during your show.
Be clear about what you’re going to broadcast
The biggest mistake you can make as an artist or brand when using live broadcast apps like Facebook Live is to go in without some form of a plan. Fans want to know what they’re going to see, and you should know what you’re going to share. You should also leave room for the unexpected, as you never know what may happen in the moment, but you need to start somewhere that is going to hook people before your broadcast even begins. Maybe you promote a Q&A with your bandmates, or maybe you share an acoustic performance from your practice space. Figure out what your fans want to see and promote their opportunity to see or experience that thing through Facebook Live.
The hottest social media trend of 2015 has been the rise of ‘live broadcast’ companies that allow users to share their perspective on life using nothing more than the camera(s) on their phone. These companies have found a way to make a real impression on the overcrowded digital business space in a very small amount of time, so it should come as little to no surprise that the world’s largest social platform, Facebook, is now preparing to introduce their own real-time video streaming service in the new year.
According to a post on Music3Point0, Facebook quietly began testing a live broadcast tool with select users earlier this month. The tool has been available to big brands for a few months, but the company is only just now beginning to share this feature with everyday users. The testing is in its beta stage right now, with a full public release expected in early 2016.
Beta testers have found that you’ll be able to see both the people that are currently viewing your broadcast as well as the real-time comments.
What will separate Facebook’s live broadcast feature from that of other services is the ability to specify who is able to access each stream. This means that you, page owners and users, can designate your broadcast to be seen just by your fans, followers, a group, or even a small group of friends or family. Have a big tour announcement? Invite everybody. Need to share the news of a new baby? Make it personal and only allow those you care about the most to join. Facebook aims to make this specificity the thing that sets them apart.
Also, all broadcasts will live forever on your timeline, or at least as long as you desire to have them available. This differs from Meerkat and Periscope, which only keeps user videos for a limited amount of time (usually a day or less).
The one disadvantage to Facebook’s live broadcast service is the need to be logged into Facebook in order to participate, and the videos of previous broadcast will only be able to be viewed on Facebook itself. This mean no exporting no sharing to other networks. In a time when more and more people are finding the social platform too crowded and busy to be of much real use, Facebook is hoping great services like this will give users a reason to remain committed to the site.
The news of Facebook’s decision to enter the live broadcast market is sure to worry those working at Periscope and Meerkat. Those companies combined 12 million registered users is nothing compared to 1.5 billion people registered on Facebook. If Facebook’s broadcast tool offers high quality streaming that is easy to operate, there is a good chance the companies currently leading the live broadcast discussion could fall behind the social media giant.
Are you excited for Facebook to enter the live broadcast world? Comment below and let us know your thoughts!
With the seemingly unstoppable growth being experience by the market for apps allowing you to broadcast your life in real time it should come as no surprise that artists have found yet another way to connect with their fans in the digital space. Last night, in front of hundreds of fans, Rise Records group Pvris became one of the first internationally-recognized bands in the world to share their thrilling live show with fans around the globe in real time, for free, using nothing more than a cell phone and an app they downloaded for free from iTunes.
We told you back in late March about Periscope and the numerous ways musicians could leverage the real-time mobile broadcast platform to benefit their careers. At the time, we never imagined a mainstream artist would consider sharing a straightforward live performance given the many issues such promotions would face in regards to assuring a quality broadcast (sound, lighting, etc.). but last night Pvris rolled the dice and more or less came out victors as a result. The image wasn’t great, and to be honest the audio did leave a bit to be desired, but the broadcast allowed the band’s many fans around the world a new way to connect with the group, as well as one another, that was equally unique and fleeting (Periscope deletes all broadcasts twenty-four hours after a recording is first made).
If you missed the broadcast entirely, there is no way to share it with you now. You cannot embed broadcasts, and even if you could the app captures all broadcasts as vertical video. Viewers watching Pvris had to hold their phones sideways to view the concert proper, but if they did that it became a bit more difficult to keep track of the fan-generated conversation happening simultaneously on the same screen. Here’s an example:
The entire broadcast lasted only through the opening song of the band’s set, and even that proved to be a bit difficult. Connection was never lost, but at one point whoever was responsible for holding or watching the phone capturing the performance lost control of the device and the image became incredibly hard to watch:
This may sound like a lot of complaining, but I actually think this event was a great success. Pvris’ broadcast was far from perfect, but it did manage to teach us a few things:
1. Periscope would be wise to implement a horizontal/widescreen broadcast setting.
Vertical video syndrome used to be a pretty hilarious meme, but the age of cell phone broadcasting has made its use more prevalent than ever before. Due to the way Periscope has been developed, the chat functions do not rotate with the camera during a broadcast so, as you see above, users are forced to choose between engaging with others and strictly viewing the performance. There is also no way to shut off the chat (at least not one that is clearly marked on screen), so it’s possible to foresee instances where the interaction between audience members takes away from the action on screen.
2. Despite a lack of HD video and studio quality sound, fans stuck around to view the entire performance.
The initial Pvris broadcast brought in 558 viewers, with an additional 276 people watching the video replay of the performance in the hours since the live feed came to an end. I watched the video twice myself, and though I won’t claim to have been able to read every comment that flew by on screen, I did not see a single person complain about the video or audio quality of the event. Most fans were just excited to have the opportunity to see the band live at all, with numerous people commenting “This may be the closest I ever get to seeing you,” or “This makes up for me not being allowed to see you on Warped Tour this summer.”
3. Artists hoping to duplicate this idea in the future would be wise to invest in a tripod.
I mentioned this briefly above, but it became increasingly clear as the Pvris broadcast continued that there was someone holding the phone capturing the performance. While they did their job perfectly fine, numerous moments of shakiness and one instance where the view of the band was lost entirely due to circumstances that remain unclear may have been avoided if the phone/iPad/etc running Periscope had been placed in a tripod or similar device that enabled stabilized recording.
4. Fan-filmed broadcasts of concerts large and small will be on the rise in no time at all, so artists might as well take the lead.
Unless Periscope develops a way for quote/unquote ‘celebrities’ to broadcast in full HD, the level of quality recording attainable for anyone using Periscope is basically the same. The Pvris broadcast, while far from perfect, proved people will engage with the platform in spite of not having the best audio or video to enjoy. The access the platform gives those without the means to attend events is second to none, and it will only be a matter of time before every other teen at every date of Warped Tour is capturing full sets from bands for people online to enjoy from the comfort of their own home. Maybe they’ll be broadcasting for a friend who wasn’t allowed to attend, or maybe they’ll be broadcasting in hopes of getting some digital recognition for being the ‘first’ to share the group’s latest live show. Whatever the case, Periscope’s foray into the world of live music has only just begun.
With that in mind, I think it’s important for artists to follow the lead of Pvris and begin using Periscope to share their own live performances and behind-the-scenes antics. Let fans know now, while the app is still young, that your official account is the best source for broadcasts featuring you and your music. You could also encourage fans to share videos of your performance using a specific hashtag that helps further your brand.
5. It never hurts to try something new
Pvris on Periscope could have been a complete disaster. The sound at Webster Hall could have overwhelmed the phone’s micropohone, or the lighting at the venue could have made the video too much of a colorful mess to enjoy, but instead the band’s first real-time performance broadcast was proof the emerging social media platform could be used to connect with fans in a new way. It’s not perfect yet, but it will almost certainly be approved upon, and for the time being it’s more than good enough to capture and retain the attention of the band’s global fanbase, many of whom are likely in high school or college.
6. Pvris are a really, really great band.
Part of the reason nobody seemed to care that the audio from Webster Hall wasn’t crystal clear is because Pvris still sounded great. The band has been praised by critics and fans alike for their tight live show, and even a low quality real-time broadcast of their set could not diminish the talent they have developed through years of hard work and constant dedication. The less than ideal setup may have exposed another band’s lack of cohesion on stage, but for Pvris it was only further proof this still young band has an incredibly bright future on the horizon.
James Shotwell is the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. He is also a professional entertainment critic, covering both film and music, as well as the co-founder of Antique Records. Feel free to tell him you love or hate the article above by connecting with him on Twitter. Bonus points if you introduce yourself by sharing your favorite Simpsons character.
