Sunday, September 27, 2009

Streaming Live Concerts Online!

Let's talk about streaming live videos.

In the past few years, we have seen a number of artists utilize the technology of streaming live concerts to their fans on the internet. Radiohead did it. The Dave Matthews Band did it. And more recently, many lesser-known bands have been catching on to this trend. And hey, you can even watch concerts on your iPhone.

Many sites are available for artists of all kinds to create their own live concerts. DMB used Hulu to broadcast their concert at Beacon Hall back in June. In August, Apple provided a concert from electronica band Underworld for iPhone users. But these major outlets are not the only sources for this kind of event. Websites like UStream, which is known as a site utilized mostly for live podcasts, could be used to record any band performing live for their fans anywhere in the world.

Now, depending on the popularity of a band, this may or may not prove to be a useful marketing tool, but if worked correctly it could get a band or artist out onto the internet live, giving fans and "passersby" the opportunity to experience a concert as it happens. It surprises me that something like this has not been made popular before now. It is quite simple to record a performance at a professional venue, or anywhere else a performance could take place.

This idea can help to reach out both to fans who are not able to attend certain concerts due to distance, as well as allowing new fans to discover a group in an easy, interesting way. Bands could potentially utilize this technology for more than just concerts; live updates from band members during recording sessions, tours, or any other time could also give people additional opportunities to connect with the band.

So what we see with this seemingly new idea is the possibility of getting music "out there", as well as reaching out to the public and giving fans more chances to enjoy a band's music. I would suspect that this will begin to catch on even more in the next year or so. I would not be surprised to see Apple, Hulu, and other major video-streaming sites to start providing live performances on a regular basis.


Here are some links that relate to this:

http://musformation.com/2009/09/host-a-ustream-concert-for-your-far-away-fans.html
http://newteevee.com/2009/08/07/apple-to-stream-first-live-concert-to-the-iphone-tonight/
http://www.hulu.com/dave-matthews-band
http://www.ustream.tv/


-Bill Ross

3 comments:

  1. I think streaming of live concerts will help fans experience something they may not be able to afford, or will appeal to them to go to shows more often. I think this is a great idea, that should definitely be used more.

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  2. i think this is a great idea. my band also played at the elbo room back in july where they stream every show online. we were able to post a link and have it streaming on our myspace page. it was a cool experience because it was only our second show so we didnt have any real following so this allowed us to reach out to some people who either didn't want to pay to full price or were just too far away to come. we actually got a pretty good response and i think this is a great marketing tool for bands, both big and small.

    trevor kay

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