Music is Not Dead. Long Live Livestream!

COVID-19 has shaken the foundation of our country. It has changed our social norms. Despite the obstacles this virus has thrown at us, it hasn’t taken away our music. 

Many of us will not be in a mosh pit or assisting a crowd surfer any time soon. However, we can still support our favorite musicians and our hunger for concerts through the power of livestreaming. 

What Is Livestreaming?

Livestreaming refers to someone streaming a live event over the Internet. Someone that starts a livestream event “can talk and respond to viewers in real time” (SAMHSA). According to research, “Going live creates a connection with audiences” (SAMHSA). Your livestream presence gives you a chance to engage and interact with others. It also “allows for more natural conversations” (SAMHSA) between you and your audience to occur instead of sharing a recorded video.

The music industry is currently worth over $50 billion. Live music makes up 50% of this total revenue. The rest comes from a combination of streaming, digital downloads, physical sales, and synchronization revenues (Hall). The current pandemic has caused livestreaming to grow from 9% to 47% (Hall).

Researching Rona and Concerts

A study in Germany hosted three simulations to explore the effectiveness of safety at concerts. There were about 1,500 participants. All participants tested negative for the coronavirus and wore masks throughout the experiment.

A brief breakdown of the concert simulations are as follows:

• Simulation One: No social distancing
• Simulation Two: Multiple points of entry and extra spacing between participants
• Simulation Three: Smaller crowd and strictly enforced social distancing

Throughout the simulations, the following occurred:

• Tim Bendzko performed to make the simulations authentic
• Participants recorded their movements with a personal electronic contact tracking device
• Most frequently touched surfaces were tracked with hand sanitizer mixed with fluorescent marking spray
• A smoke machine gave a visual representation of how aerosols help spread the virus

Unfortunately, people were not allowed to eat or drink during this experiment. They were also not allowed to remove their masks. Researchers made the concert experiment as authentic as they were allowed to by health authorities. 

One of the researchers commented, “That’s the problem of every study, that it’s not the ‘real world,’ So we faced the option of either remaining without data or having data that doesn’t completely reflect the normal context — but it’s still halfway there. And halfway is still better than nothing at all” (Raphelson).

As we anticipate the results of the study, researchers around the world are doing their best to explore ways to make concerts safe again. Events like Switzerland’s yodeling concerts and the Chainsmokers drive-in concert remind us that big gatherings can be virus hot spots, and social distancing is a must.

The Many Faces of Livestreaming

Many artists are using their social media platforms to bring music to their fans. Platforms like Twitter and Facebook allow for an online in time interaction to occur.

By tuning in, you can send your love to the musicians by leaving comments, sending hearts, or expressing yourself in other emojis/reactions that the social media platform has available.

One of my favorite livestreams that kicked off #TogetherAtHome was when Chris Martin of Coldplay took to Twitter and performed tidbits of songs for fans at their request. “Hi, my name is Chris. Is this thing on?”  is how he started his livestream. A super cute reminder that many of us are adapting to using online technologies that we may not be too familiar with.

Chris does such an amazing job of interacting with the people that are viewing his livestream. “I’ve never done this before, so I’m a bit nervous,” he claims as he just rolls with the live engagement. There are points where he talks directly to some of the names that appear to him. Now granted, he doesn’t speak or address every comment or request that is thrown at him, but nobody should even expect this at an in-person event.

Check out Chris’ full Twitter livestream performance here.

Another approach to livestream is a little bit different. I like to think of this as a concert production without the other extreme measures such as being sardines in a crowd or sitting in nose-bleed arena seats. 

Experts are calling this a “couch tour” (Adler). This pay-per-view revenue source was popular before COVID-19 but has been growing in popularity. Before the virus, bands such as “Metallica, Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, Phish, Red Hot Chili Peppers and many more” (Adler) used streaming services that allowed individuals to watch concerts at home or on their mobile device.

Now don’t get me wrong, I miss the atmosphere of a band performing and a good crowd. There is this interaction and wave of energy that I simply cannot put into words. If you want the closest thing to this, some musicians are livestreaming full sets of their music. It’s kind of like the good ol’ days. You may have to pay for these performances or wait for them to be released to the public.

A great example of this is when BUSH performed Live in L.A. For 39 minutes and 8 seconds, Gavin Rossdale sings his heart out. He even dances about the stage channeling the music when he isn’t playing the guitar.

There isn’t much interaction during this event. The livestream appears to be all about the music and performance. Video and lighting used in BUSH’s set help to confirm this. Now granted, there are moments where the streaming gets intimate. There is some eye contact and close shots with some of the bandmates, but sometimes people need a little inclusion with a “hello” or an introduction to what song is being played.

Regardless, this is a wonderful livestream with amazing video and sound quality. I would highly recommend watching it if you are missing the live music scene.

Check out the BUSH livestream performance by clicking here. 

Both the Coldplay and Bush performances provide fans of all walks of life with hope. We might be in the mix of a pandemic, but livestreaming is still pulling us through!

What Does This Mean for Not So Famous Bands?

In these trying times, we cannot forget the underdog. We cannot forget about the bands that are playing because music is at their heart. They may not have big names or big followings, but COVID-19 has still made its impact.

I spoke briefly to Aaron Green, who is the drummer for the band Of Nothing. If you were a Vans Warped Tour attendee, you might have heard of his previous band, Pick Your Poison. Though the band lifestyle has changed for Aaron, I’m still glad he allowed me to pick his brain about the concept of livestreaming.

Here is what he had to say:

We knew going into it that we wouldn’t be like touring ourselves into the ground and stuff. I think that’s more of the reason why we have been pretty quiet. My last band was a full time touring machine and it was how we paid our bills. We’d have to take tours and shows we didn’t want… and had management who kid down and told us what to do. It feels nice to just be able to do what we want and do it on our terms.

We’re def getting restless though. And yeah that’s another big part of it… I don’t think we want to charge anyone a good chunk of change to watch us on a screen. It’s just a whole different dynamic, and it almost feels like you’re cheating people. I dunno. I think if we did it… it would be free, and would be more of like a hang session where we just play some songs and shoot the shit with people. It also takes quite a bit of time to get that kind of production ready and looking/sounding nice. Just not sure if it would be worth it… for us at least. I’m just ready for the world to go back to normal.

Until the world is normal again, head on over and check out the latest from Of Nothing and show a little love on their latest music video Nepal.

Conclusion

Life as we know it is changing. It might be a hot minute before we find ourselves back at a concert venue, but the music industry is still flourishing with livestreaming platforms.

Here are a few other livestreams to check out:

• Dropkick Murphys – Streaming Up From Boston
  • The American Celtic punk band celebrated and streamed a St. Patrick’s Day set.
• THE YUNGBLUD SHOW
  • YUNGBLUD hosted a livestream with special guests. Rumor has it that another episode is coming.
• Linkin Park Reacts
  • Members of Linkin Park released never-before-seen concert footage and reacted.
• Metallica Mondays
  • #MetallicaMondays trended for 23 weeks. The band shared shows from their concert archives.
• Corey Taylor LIVE at The Forum
  • Corey debuted his new album, CMFT, while making history livestreaming at The Forum in L.A.

For more information about past, present, and future streaming events, visit billboard.com. To stay on top of concert cancellations, visit liveforlivemusic.com.

Sources

Adler, Lindsey. “Taking the Show on Couchtour: Livestreaming Concerts Provides New Revenue Sources .”

Billboard Staff. “Here Are All the Livestreams & Virtual Concerts to Watch During Coronavirus Crisis (Updating).” Billboard, 15 Oct. 2020, www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/9335531/coronavirus-quarantine-music-events-online-streams.

Green, Aaron. Interview. Conducted by Nicole Godfrey, 14 October 2020. 

Hall, Stefan. “This Is How COVID-19 Is Affecting the Music Industry.” World Economic Forum, www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/this-is-how-covid-19-is-affecting-the-music-industry/. 

Jason PlautzJul. 17, 2020, et al. “Is It Safe to Strike up the Band in a Time of Coronavirus?” Science, 22 July 2020, www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/07/it-safe-strike-band-time-coronavirus.

Millman, Ethan. “Better Concert Livestreams Are Coming. But You’ll Have to Pay for Them.” Rolling Stone, Rolling Stone, 6 Aug. 2020, www.rollingstone.com/pro/features/paid-livestreams-music-concerts-covid-1035068/.

Raphelson, Samantha. “German Experiment Tests How The Coronavirus Spreads At A Concert.” NPR, NPR, 24 Aug. 2020, www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/08/24/905534790/german-experiment-tests-how-coronavirus-spreads-at-a-concert.

Sacks, Ethan. “COVID-19 Strikes Discordant Note for Music Industry, but Artists Find a Way to Persevere.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 10 May 2020, www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/music/covid-19-strikes-discordant-note-music-industry-artists-find-way-n1202571.SAHHSA. “How to Use Instagram and Facebook Livestreams.” SAHHSA, theinstitute.umaryland.edu/media/ssw/institute/hub-resources/social-marketing/How-to-Use-Instagram-and-Facebook-Livestreams.pdf.