Jun 03, 2020

Make Live Music Streaming Work for You

With live music an impossibility for the foreseeable future, artists are turning to streaming to reach homebound audiences and earn an income. This guide teaches you everything you need to know about setting up and promoting live music streams.

Everything You Need To Know To Make A Success of Live Music Streaming In the New Normal

These are, as you know, unprecedented times. The Covid-19 pandemic has left artists in a particularly precarious position, with one of their main sources of income – conventional music concerts, tours, and festivals – cancelled indefinitely. It’s impossible to predict when, or in what form, they may return, but in the meantime, many artists are turning to the internet, and technology, for help. Live music streaming presents an opportunity to not just replace some of that revenue, but reach a whole new audience too, with homebound fans the world over eager for online concerts and live streams.

That’s why we’ve put together a guide to live music streaming, one that will teach you everything you need to know about live streaming including set up, technical guidance, streaming platforms, promoting online concerts, monetising live music streaming, how to present yourself, and hints and tips for sound, visuals, and adapting performance for this unique medium. It also features exclusive interviews with professionals from Yamaha and Shure, as well as feedback from artists sharing their personal experiences and dos and don’ts. In short, it’s essential reading for anyone interested in live music streaming and how it can help benefit their career. 

Sign up for free as an artist or a promoter on gigmit or complete your artist profile. Artists who connected their socials and active promoters will receive The Live Music Streaming Guide soon.

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How To Set Up Your Livestream Concert

HOW TO SETUP SOUND & VIDEO
How to setup sound and video

How to setup sound and videoThere’s so much more to live streaming that simply playing a few songs into your smartphone while hooked up to the internet. Artists have to understand the ways in which online concerts are different, and how to make the most of live music online. While there is a place for basic, stripped down performances, digital shows that look and sound professional will entice fans, make money, and help you stand out. And it’s not just a question of having the right equipment – things like preparation, presentation, and collaboration can help your online concerts gain traction, shares, and ultimately, a greater following.

While expensive gear is not a prerequisite for success, artists will need to look beyond the stock features found on smartphones and computers. Our guide features an exclusive interview with Yamaha technician Andy Cooper, who looks at the tech you’ll need and how to set it up. We speak to an expert from Shure about sound mixing, amplification, and the best setups for different instruments and genres, and there’s also a section dedicated to staging, lighting, visuals, creativity, and making sure your live-streamed concerts are special and exciting.

Of course, having a brilliant setup counts for nothing if your online concert is plagued with technical issues. The guide also looks at troubleshooting, how to pre-empt common problems, and lots of tips about ensuring your live stream runs smoothly.

How To Make Money With Your Livestream Concert

MONETIZATION
How to monetize your livestream

It’s all well and good creating unique digital concert experiences for fans, but at the end of the day, the goal is also to generate income, and harness the power of live music streaming to draw a bigger audience, generate more excitement, and monetise this increased fanbase. The guide explores the many ways in which this can be achieved, and what artists can realistically expect to earn.

We look at partnerships and branding – blogs, magazines, festivals, venues, and companies all partner with artists for digital music events, and some may even contribute costs or sponsorship directly. There’s also the issue of cross promotion and merchandise, and how partners can help artists grow their non-music revenue and build a loyal following online.

The guide also explores the various live streaming services and online concert platforms, as well as third party vendors and sales sites such as PayPal and Venmo – most differ in subtle, but important ways. Some are easier to monetise; some give greater reach. What’s important is that you choose the platforms best suited to your goals, and where your fans are, whether that’s an established service like Facebook or new apps such as TikTok.

 

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How To Promote Your Livestream Concert

How To Promote Your Livestream Concert
How To Promote Your Livestream Concert

Looking and sounding professional, and performing to the best of your abilities, is all well and good, but will count for nothing if nobody tunes in. That’s why promotion is key to live music streaming, and something artists have to take just as seriously as they would normal shows. But that doesn’t mean the strategies used should be the same – on the contrary, music streams and online concerts requires a different approach, and one tailored to online interaction.

The live music streaming guide details the best way to promote your music streams, and how to reach audiences around the world. It looks at social media, the best suited platforms for sales, and hints and tips to build excitement and awareness for digital shows. Being a salesperson doesn’t come naturally to many artists, but is a skill worth mastering, and our guide breaks down the best advice when it comes to engagement, social media campaigns, building a compelling narrative around your online shows, and using analytics to target your specific audience. The latter is of particular importance nowadays, and gigmit recently integrated Facebook and Spotify analytics into our artist pages – by connecting these platforms with gigmit, you can get all these details at a glance.

For some artists, teaming up with labels, blogs, publications, or other digital platforms is a great way to get help with this and reach new audiences; others will prefer to do everything themselves. What’s important is coming up with a coherent, well-thought out plan to maximise your online concert’s impact and get the biggest audience possible. With our guide, you’ll learn the best way to develop an engaged, loyal audience and regular revenue streams – and our Online Promotion Guide offers a deep dive into this very topic. 

How To Learn From Others

How To Learn From Others
How To Learn From Others

Theory is one thing, but the best way to learn is by doing and figuring out what works best for you. That’s why our guide is practical in nature, but also why we’ve interviewed several artists about their experience in this sphere. German pop artist Jannik Brunke and UK-based indie rock band Scarlet break down how they went about live music streaming and online concerts, what they learned, best practices, and what they’d do differently. Both offer valuable insight for artists venturing into live music online for the first time, and help prepare you for what to expect.

It’s just one of many features that makes our live music streaming guide indispensable, and a must read for artists trying to not just survive but thrive in these trying times. The future of concerts and performance is online, and we can help you navigate it in many ways. For instance, gigmit helps bring venues and musicians together – artists get access to a list of digital and physical show opportunities, while promoters and club owners can search for artists based on location and genre. And with gigmit, it’s easy to find online music festivals, like our Indoor Inspired festival on Dringeblieben.de.

 

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Sign up for free as an artist or a promoter on gigmit or complete your artist profile to receive gigmit’s Live Music Streaming Guide, powered by Shure, Yamaha and Kycker.