What Platform Fits Your Music Live Stream Best?
These difficult times have shown us how important social media are, especially in the music business. Most artists are more active today than ever before. And you should be too! Before you even think of live streaming, it is important to find the right platform. Which one you ultimately choose is entirely up to you. Find here the right platform to live stream your music during the Coronavirus shutdown.
YouTube
YouTube is the most famous video portal on the Internet. You can share content with your subscribers in real-time. This gives you the opportunity to get closer to your followers. The live stream is archived on the channel after the end of the live stream so your fans can watch it again later. On this platform, you have to have a minimum of 1,000 subscribers to start a mobile live stream.
How To Go Live On YouTube
- If you are using your mobile: Open the YouTube app and click on the camera icon at the top of your screen and click on “go live” once you’ve allowed the app to access your microphone and camera.
- You can now edit the title of your live stream, take a picture or upload one for the thumbnail.
- Click on ‘Share’ to share the live stream with your fans and “go live”. Congrats, you’re now live on YouTube!
- If you are going live from your desktop via webcam: Open YouTube Creator Studios at least 24 hours before going live as you will have to enable the live feature.
- Once you’ve activated this feature, click on the camera icon at the top of the page and select the webcam you want to use.
- You can now edit the title and description of your video and schedule it if you want.
- Click on “save” and add a thumbnail, click on “go live” and let the show begin!
Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms in the world, both for Millennials and for Generation Z. To live stream your music on this platform is interactive and easy to create. Your reach is displayed on the screen during the broadcast. You can read and respond to comments during the stream. This gives the viewers the opportunity to actively interact with what’s happening and, for example, send music requests. You can also archive your live stream in IGTV and make it available to your fans at a later time.
How To Go Live On Instagram
- Open your Instagram app and click on the camera icon in the top left corner of your screen or simply swipe left.
- Once you’ve entered the camera mode, swipe left again in the menu at the bottom of your screen and click on “Live”. And that’s it!
If you want to make your music live stream on this platform even more interesting, you can use some of the stickers in the gallery and ask questions to your viewers and engage with them.
What makes Facebook Live Streams special is that you can invite your fans to take part in the real-time broadcast. They are notified when a page they like is streaming live. So you automatically get a larger audience than if you opened a new channel on another platform where you don’t have any followers yet. The disadvantage is that the fans can’t donate here like they can on Twitch (see later). But Facebook just announced plans to add the ability for pages to charge for access to online-only events with live videos. Since the video is broadcast in real-time, users can also like and comment in real-time. So feel free to interact with your community! Be spontaneous, ask questions and answer the comments – this keeps the stream interesting!
How To Go Live On Facebook
- Simply go to your Facebook homepage and click on the “Live Video” button. You will land on the “Live Producer” app.
- On that page, you have many options for your live stream.
- Go live now or schedule your live stream, create a poll or add questions, and don’t forget to add a title and video description.
- If you want to go live on several Facebook pages, you can even use the crossposting feature by clicking on “Crosspost to more pages”.
- Once you’re done, tap “go live” to begin the live stream of your music on this platform.
Twitch
Twitch is currently one of the most successful live streaming video portals and is becoming more popular every day. This platform, however, is often associated with video games, as it was initially mainly used by gamers. Nevertheless, it is also ideal for musicians. To help musicians keep their careers on track, SoundCloud is now teaming up with Twitch. This cooperation makes it easier for musicians to monetize live shows. With this deal, Pro and Premier users of SoundCloud can quickly become Twitch affiliates. The affiliate program gives you the option to earn money with your streams and increase the size of your channel. SoundCloud members who do not have a Twitch account need to create one first and to fill out the application form. Twitch will send you an invitation to become an “Affiliate” within a few days. After the affiliate membership fans can subscribe to your Twitch music channel and support you financially through this channel.
How To Go Live On Twitch
- As said above, if you want to go live on Twitch, you’ll have to become an affiliate. Click here and fill out the form to submit your request.
- Add all relevant information on your music project to your Twitch account as for your gigmit EPK.
- Download Twitch Studio (PC) or OBS (PC/Mac) and click on your account name at the top right corner of your screen.
- Look for the ‘Dashboard’ section and click on the “Stream Key” button.
- Input your stream key to Twitch Studio/OBS and start recording your live stream!
TikTok
What is TikTok and how can you promote your music on the platform? You may have read that already in our TikTok Guide. But TikTok can also be used for everything from lip-syncing to funny videos. And for some, there’s also the option of streaming video directly from your phone. But currently, you need at least 1,000 followers to access this feature. And although the minimum age for TikTok is generally 13 years, you must be at least 16 years old to be able to do a live stream.
How To Go Live On TikTok
- Open your TikTok app and click on the “+” button at the bottom of your screen.
- Click on “Live” and add a title to your video.
- Click on “Go live” and meet your fans!
Dringeblieben (=”Stayed Inside” In German)
The concert series from Cologne, which is normally called “Rausgegangen” (=”went out” in German), has been renamed to Dringeblieben and offers live streams of all kinds: from sports to music or kitchen experiments. The advantage here is, that you can additionally create a supporter-ticket which allows viewers to donate. Due to the Coronavirus special rules have to be followed for the recordings: A separate microphone for each artist, at least 1.5 m distance between each band member and not too many people in the same room.
How To Go Live On Dringeblieben
- gigmit is a media partner of Dringeblieben and organisers are now offering live stream slots on gigmit. Check out our gig search and submit your application for a live stream with Dringeblieben.
- Profiles that are fully complete have better chances to catch bookers’ attention, so make sure that your gigmit profile is up-to-date and connected to your Facebook and Spotify channels.
Patreon
On Patreon, musicians can strengthen their relationship with their fans by offering them exclusive content, including live streams. Fans pay the artists a monthly contribution (you decide how much) to get exclusive access to their creations. If you are using the platform you can also share your live streams there.
How To Go Live On Patreon
- Log in to Patreon and go to your profile. Click on “Edit Post” and choose “Livestream” in the menu.
- You can either broadcast via YouTube (for free, see YouTube section above) or via Crowdcast. Choose which channel you want to use and follow the guidelines. If you are using YouTube, you can click on “Start an unlisted YouTube live stream” or type your YouTube live stream URL.
- Edit your post title, description, teaser text and add tags and attachments.
- You can also choose who will see the live stream: other Patreon users only or do you want your post to be public?
- Once your post is ready, click on “publish now” or “schedule” and go live via the platform you’ve chosen!
If you want to see how other artists do it, check out the Facebook live streams series “Share the Wonder” organised by Budapest based event organiser Garden Wonder and supported by gigmit. Also, check out tur top 20 live streams for quarantine times. Do you need some special inspiration? Here are some creative ways to share music with your fans and neighbours.
Look ahead, prepare for the good times after Coronavirus and get your booking to the digital age.
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