Live Streams: The Rise Of A New Form Of Entertainment

In this op-ed Fabrice Sergent, Bandsintown Managing Partner explores how artists are reimagining their relationship with fans through intimate live streams and its long term implications

By Fabrice Sergent, Bandsintown Managing Partner. This first appeared on CelebrityAccess.

We all love music and admire creators for the magic they deliver even under enormous constraints.

In recent weeks, more than 100,000 physical live events have been canceled or postponed, according to Bandsintown data. Combined with stay-at-home orders, that has led to a surge in musical creativity that is both the product of and a cure for these difficult times.

Nowhere has this creativity shown more brightly than on live music streams.

From bedroom concerts to major productions, musicians are pragmatically exploring new ways to connect with fans, generate much-needed income, raise money for charities or simply fight off the boredom and depression being felt on both sides of the microphone.

In the last few days, almost 5000 live stream events have been created by artists to alert their fans using Bandsintown. We are already promoting an average of 2,000 live stream events daily with two-thirds of these live streams coming from artists of less than 30,000 followers. Larger artists such as DJ Black Coffee drew 84,500 fans to our recent Bandsintown LIVE stream, reaching as most artists do, a far broader audience online than the capacity of the venues they normally play.

Music is at the core of this seismic shift, but so is connection.

Authenticity, showing vulnerability, telling stories and answering questions are all part of this new format which offers artists and fans human connectivity at a time when it is needed more than ever.

During our recent Bandsintown LIVE Music Marathon for MusiCares, Amanda Palmer’s children invaded their live streams, Hala shared his vintage record collection, Fly By Midnight added a special guest via FaceTime and Tayla Parx took a spontaneous request for an acapella song.

In the midst of this crisis, a powerful intimate performance format is being created and refined before our eyes.

While no one should even think about trying to replace the tribal experience we are all missing of being in a mosh pit or cheering for our favorite a band or DJ, live streaming artists are well on their way to creating new forms of entertainment that deeply connect creators and fans.