What ’ s next for livestreaming ?
On the back of her involvement in the Livestreaming & Virtual Live Experience white paper published by the organisers of Cannes-based global music industry event Midem , AEG Presents head of digital partnerships Marisol Segal tells Access about lessons learnt from a decade ’ s work on livestreaming and its likely future beyond Covid-19 .
Words : Christopher Barrett
Marisol Segal , head of digital partnerships , AEG Presents
With contributions from companies including AEG , Believe and Twitch alongside artists such as David Guetta , Midem ’ s 46-page white paper explores what the future of livestreaming , virtual live and a hybrid of physical and streaming might look like , what ’ s worked over the past year and why .
It makes fascinating reading and includes some remarkable statistics , not least that the livestreaming industry grew by 91.8 % in 2020 . Among the winners were UK-based ticketed livestream service Driift , which sold 400,000 tickets for its first 15 shows following its launch in June . A Niall Horan show at the Royal Albert Hall alone saw 127,000 tickets sold .
A Bandsintown fan survey showed that fewer than 30 % had watched a livestream performance before Covid-19 struck but by the autumn of 2020 , 73 % were watching a livestream event at least once a month . Fans ’ willingness to pay also increased dramatically from around 60 % to 80 %.
There is no doubt that livestreaming has proven a hugely successful option for fans confined to their living rooms while their favourite venues remain padlocked , but will the demand last beyond the pandemic ?
Marisol Segal is head of digital partnerships at AEG Presents , which promotes festivals including Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival and Stagecoach in the US as well as the UK ’ s All Points East and BST Hyde Park . One of the contributors to the white paper , she is quoted as saying that as live shows with audiences return , the industry will
Illenium streamed from Red Rocks
move to a hybrid model : “ Shows will move from live in a physical venue to live in both a physical and virtual venue .”
Until Covid event restrictions are lifted , Segal says she expects to see venues around the world look to fill the financial void created by having to host reduced capacity shows by livestreaming the action . She points to the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville as an example of a venue that is doing limited capacity audience shows that are livestreamed .
She says , “ I am a big believer in livestreaming and have been involved in it for more than a decade . It ’ s not a new technology but I think the technology has evolved to the point where there is now the ability for livestreaming to become a big thing .
“ Obviously having everyone in their houses and having no live shows has accelerated things dramatically but as people begin to have access to other opportunities outside of the home , I think the hybrid physical and digital events business will absolutely be viable .
“ Allowing people to watch live shows from the comfort of their home means that it opens up the experience to more people and there are many benefits for events operators , whether it is extending capacity , allowing people under 21 in the US or 18 in the UK to gain access , as well as those who may not be able to afford highly priced tickets to the in-person experience .”
While confident about the future of livestreaming , Segal says there will be a drop in demand once in-person live shows can be experienced again , but in the long term it will become an integral aspect of concerts and festivals : “ Festivals will add streaming as a natural transition once festival organisers know how and when they can come back . They are trying to figure out what it all looks like in a post-Covid world .”
Naturally , technology continues to evolve rapidly with the likes of computeraltered reality , augmented reality and mixed reality increasingly being adopted , but Segal says a key learning from her experience is providing user interactivity and broadening the experience beyond simply the performance .
She uses Twitch ’ s livestream of two shows by Illenium at Red Rocks in Octover 2019 as an example . “ We used a system that allowed for camera switching , so we had backstage cameras ; it was the first ideation around how we can wrap a live stream experience with other content , and not just put a performance out which is pretty much what everyone else was doing up to that point . The livestreaming sector will continue to grow and evolve because it will become more economical for people to use the technology and easier to create more interesting experiences for people who are watching from home .
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