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After canceling their album release show over Coronavirus concerns, Code Orange found a way to deliver a game-changing solution to concert restrictions.

Coronavirus concerns have canceled or delayed virtually every concert and sporting event scheduled for March and early April. The vast majority of musicians and touring crew members are currently out of work, and there is no clear timeline on when their jobs will resume. It could be three weeks, or it could be two months. Some say it could be even longer, but we are doing our best to keep hopes high.

Rock band Code Orange is one of many artists whose plans were derailed by the spread of Coronavirus in the last week. The group’s long-promoted new album, Underneath, released on Friday, March 13. The band planned a massive release show for Saturday, March 14, in their home state of Pennsylvania to celebrate the album, but then the virus hit and put the safety of everyone into question.

Understanding the need to keep themselves, their crew, and their fans safe, Code Orange quickly developed a workaround. The band would still perform their release show where they booked months prior, but there would be no openers and no audience. Instead, Code Orange would partner with a video team to present their full performance over Twitch, a popular live-streaming platform, for free.

On Saturday night, Code Orange took the stage with a production that included lights and custom video animations. The livestream blended multiple camera angles with video overlays showcasing the animation that was created exclusively for the Underneath release.

Watch LAST ONES LEFT: Fear of the End // 3.14 9pm EST from codeorangeofficial on www.twitch.tv

More than 10,000 people watched the livestream as it happened, and thousands more have viewed the performance in the hours that followed. That figure is far higher than the capacity of the venue and much larger than the attendance at any traditional Code Orange show. The band also received numerous donations from viewers before and after the performance, though the specific amount given is not available to the public.

Through their creative thinking, Code Orange is already changing the way many in music are looking at the problem currently facing musicians. Touring may not be possible for the foreseeable future. However, high-quality broadcasts like the experience created by Code Orange could create a new revenue stream for any musician or group able to stream a performance.

There is another perk to live streaming events, and that is the ability to create new fans and sell additional tickets. Many people likely watched Code Orange for the first time because of their Twitch performance, and those who enjoyed the set are now more likely to stream their music, buy merchandise, or see the band on tour. Current fans also have a new reason to love the group. Their quick-thinking in this situation should instill fans’ faith in the band’s lasting appeal moving forward.

Streaming performance is nothing new, but the technology has struggled to find a broad audience. While several platforms have found an audience by broadcasting acoustic and stripped-down performance, which are easier to capture, the majority of full-band performances are only available through high-profile festival streams. That is due in large part to cost, but those prices are dropping.

The music industry at large has spent the better part of two decades trying to make money from the use of music on social platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, and beyond. In a world where physical album sales have essentially bottomed out, royalties gained from song streams and licensing have become more important than ever, and that trend shows no signs of changing anytime soon.

Twitch is an exception. Since its launch in 2011, the live video streaming service has managed to avoid paying royalties for music played by its users while broadcasting on its platform. Twitch is mainly used to broadcast individuals or teams playing popular video games, such as FortNite, but almost every broadcast also includes a musical component. The service claims to have 2 million daily broadcasts, as well as 15 million daily users. Here’s a quick example of a Twitch stream for anyone unfamiliar with the service:

Watch live video from Ninja on www.twitch.tv

Twitch is a platform that requires UGC, otherwise known as user-generated content, to thrive. Similar UGC-based platforms have negotiated license agreements, but Twitch has somehow managed to avoid the process, despite the service and many of its most popular broadcasters making millions. Revenue comes from subscriptions, bits, and Amazon Prime memberships, but many of the most popular broadcasters have negotiated third-party sponsorship deals as well.

Many broadcasters generate revenue when not streaming through fans who watch previous broadcasts maintained on the Twitch servers. Again, no royalties are paid to musicians whose music may appear on these streams, despite several broadcasters welcoming tens of thousands of viewers per day.

In June 2018, Universal took the first steps to fight back against Twitch’s unrestricted use of music when it had 10 of the most popular broadcast suspended for 24 hours and all videos using UMG music deleted from their accounts.

“This organization has asserted that it owns this content and that you streamed that content on Twitch without permission to do so,” according to an email sent to the user known as KittyPlays. “As a result, we have cleared the offending archives, highlights, and episodes from your account and given you a 24-hour restriction from broadcasting.”

As Forbes pointed earlier this year, platforms with user-generated audiovisual content require performance licenses for the compositions from performance rights organizations ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, and GMR. Music users must obtain synchronization and master use licenses from the music publishers and record labels, respectively, along with paying negotiated fees to “synchronize” the audio with the visual elements. Also, rights’ owners may share in ad revenue in addition to or in lieu of those fees.

There is no evidence that Twitch has acquired any of these licenses. There is also no evidence that any broadcaster using music on Twitch obtains synchronization or master use licenses, or pays any fees for the use of music.

YouTube, for example, has a content ID system that automatically detects and flags the use of copyrighted material. Twitch has no system like this, opting instead to leverage Audible Magic to track audio uses after a live stream is over. Twitch will mute infringing content in the on-demand re-broadcasts, but not all content is recognized and removed. There is also no system to flag these infringing uses or mute them during a live stream.

In other words, if an artist hears their music being used without permission there is virtually no way to take action against the user (or Twitch).

There are rumors that The National Music Publisher’s Association (NMPA) is in negotiations with Twitch for licensing, but has not confirmed or commented as to the details.

The bottom line is, everyone deserves to be compensated for the use or their art. While some artists have endorsed streamers who play their music those decisions do not forgive the platform-wide decision to not go through proper channels to secure the rights to use music created by performers at every level of the business.

That said, Twitch has launched a music FAQ page that encourages the use of music in the public domain.

We’ll update this story as more information becomes available.