Musician’s Guide to LiveStreaming

In this Musician’s Guide to LiveStreaming discover how to livestream with proven strategies used by successful musicians. Learn how to grow a fanbase, maximize revenue, increase visibility, and take full control of your virtual success.

Musician’s Guide to LiveStreaming

by Chris Huff via Disc Makers Blog

For modern musicians, livestreaming is an extremely helpful way to market and promote your music. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, even high-profile artists with substantial in-person followings have been livestreaming as a source of revenue and a way to connect to their audiences personally. 

As of August 2024, the most-popular streaming platforms are Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Twitch. Streaming live is free on all these apps. Instagram and Twitch require only that you have an account, but TikTok requires that you be 18 and have 1000 followers before you can stream live. YouTube requires at least 50 subscribers to broadcast live; they might also limit your reach on mobile if you have less than 1000 subscribers. Here are more details about the multiple platforms to help you set up a successful livestream. 

Musician streaming ideas for live content

Most musicians will be streaming themselves performing live. You’ll want the camera to provide a clear view of you at a natural angle. It’s also good to mix up your livestream show from just performing; you can have Q&As, hold a virtual concert , go into detail about your songs/production, or give a travel diary from the road. Christian James Hand parlayed his experience as a musician/DJ into the successful Twitch show, “The Session Live,” where he breaks down multitrack recordings into parts to teach people how records are made. Henning Ohlenbusch takes his TikTok audience for walks around his neighborhood. Keep the focus on your playing, but also consider different types of musician stream ideas to vary your presentation. 

Mastering livestreaming on TikTok

TikTok puts no end length on livestreams, but they recommend keeping them at 30 minutes or less. This is consistent with the general short format of their videos and short TikTok audience attention span. They also recommend continually engaging the crowd by constantly talking and keeping the pace of your broadcast brisk. 

The one limitation on livestreaming for musicians on TikTok is the use of pre-recorded music. There is no problem performing cover songs live, but those using backing tracks will have issues with videos being taken down. Play everything yourself live and you should be fine. Because of the emphasis the TikTok algorithm places on user engagement, TikTok live streams are best broadcast from a home or studio where you can focus entirely on the online crowd.

Maximizing your impact on Instagram Live

Instagram recommends planning your live events. You have the ability to schedule your broadcasts in advance, and your followers will be notified about your intention to go live and at what time. Instagram actually tells you how many of your followers are online before your live session begins. You’ll want to use their analytics to evaluate the best time to stream. This may take some trial and error, so be patient and experiment. 

Instagram Live’s unique features include the ability to invite up to three co-hosts onto your stream and the built-in fundraiser button which allows you to raise contributions to an eligible nonprofit while live. Live videos can be automatically archived on your Instagram page, but live comments are not saved. The impermanence of comments means that you’ll need to be able to respond as they happen, or you’ll need to have a moderator observing the chat to prompt you. Also, unless you broadcast from the rear-facing camera on your phone, you will be recorded as a mirror image that can’t be flipped. Flaws aside, the user-friendly interface makes Instagram Live a great option for quick and easy broadcasting and many say that of all the social media platforms, it is the most reliable and least susceptible to crashing, especially when off wi-fi. 

Building a loyal audience on YouTube

YouTube Live has its own separate hub page where you can see everyone who is broadcasting live right now; this is very helpful in attracting browsing viewers. One feature unique to YouTube is being able to stream via an encoder, which allows you to stream from multiple cameras and have a professional audio setup of multiple microphones through a mixer. This is way beyond entry level, but it’s good to be aware that it is the only platform offering technical growth. YouTube has a robust help section to help you navigate the technology with livestreaming tips. 

Like Instagram, you’ll want to promote the broadcast in advance, make it an “event”, and be proactive about responding to the chat and the comments. Another platform-specific tip is to provide detailed descriptions in the video text box; often only the first two lines show up above the digital fold, so those lines should contain key information. 

To increase your YouTube subscribers, start by posting pre-recorded videos and then move into livestreams with the goal of broadcasting consistently at regular intervals. YouTube Live has a helpful PDF called Digital Events Playbook that goes into great detail about audience engagement. You can also pre-record a video and release it to be played live with a function called YouTube Premieres. It’s unclear how much organic traffic is really on YouTube Live; certainly it requires a lot of time and effort to grow a channel. But there’s high potential for that, and it’s a way of increasing the technical level of your broadcasts. YouTube is the second-most visited social media app in the world, so there are certainly people on the platform ready to become your new fans.

Harnessing the power of Twitch for musicians

Twitch is the only livestreaming platform discussed here whose sole purpose is livestreaming. One advantage is the length of the broadcast; Twitch recommends no less than two hours at a stretch with a minimum of one hour because their user engagement increases the longer you stream. You can archive your musician stream and it saves the live chat. On Twitch, you pick a category for your streams (music), which makes it easier for browsing users to find you. Having Twitch users not subscribed to your channel able to find and view your broadcast easily means just streaming regularly could build an audience. 

There is a tiered level of participation on Twitch which offers more revenue opportunities the more you stream. Users can tip you in a Twitch currency called “bits” and you can also offer a paid subscription. Once you reach affiliate status and then partner status, you’ll have the ability to monetize with ads and even third-party sponsorships. While this all sounds ideal, one drawback is that Twitch can crash easily — especially on mobile. It’s a great platform for livestreaming for musicians if you are in a stable location with a strong connection; consult their FAQ for more information.

Promoting your livestream

In order to get more viewers on your musician stream, you’ll need to tell people about it! This may sound like a no-brainer, but important to remember. While Twitch and TikTok have organic traffic, the core of your viewers will always come from your followers. People will also be inspired by your passion for music in general — not just your own music. Well-placed and well-executed cover songs can pull in new viewers.

Promote your live broadcasts on different platforms. Maybe your Facebook friends don’t know about Twitch or TikTok; your ability to make it all seem like a fun experience will be contagious and this will make the leap to another platform seem easier. It’s a good idea to experiment with livestreaming on all the different platforms to see where you have the most traction. 

Engaging with your target audience during livestreams

Here’s a general suggestion that will never fail: Be entertaining! This is another no-brainer, but something easily forgotten in the learning curve of becoming a livestream musician. Make sure you’re not talking at them and instead are having a two-way conversation, answering comments on air and off. Offering up incentives like contests and taking song requests will help connect you to your audience. 

It’s also vital to remember to deliver value. If your music is good and your items for sale are of good quality and reasonably priced, your audience will have a reason to trust you. There is no worse feeling than having an artist you admire and support shake you down for cash at every turn. Don’t be a grifter! Deliver real value to people and you will get a real following in return. 

Grow your fanbase

It can be challenging to put yourself out there! Have faith that your efforts to promote your musician stream will not be in vain. Each platform has detailed analytics that can assist you figuring out the best time to broadcast, how people are responding, and what you can do better. If you focus on engaging with your following, making the best music you can, presenting it to people on a livestream on a consistent basis, and keeping them informed, you will be amazed at the results you can achieve over time. And if you’re looking to sell some physical media to the viewers of your livestream, your friends at Disc Makers are the go-to destination for CD manufacturing, vinyl record pressing, and more.