Apr 09, 2021

Prediction for 2021: Live Music & Data Analytics

 

We hope 2021 will be a better year for live music than in 2020 was. But we don’t know. What we do know is that the live industry is changing. Data analytics will play an important role in the near future. It’s not only about visibility but for many also about survival! How can live music promoters, agencies, labels and artists participate, evolve and overlook the consequences of the crisis?

Live Music In Change

First records and DJs steal jobs from party bands, then physical record sales drop massively and now COVID-19. The music industry has always been in a state of continuous change. Particularly drastic for all of us, of course, is the worldwide pandemic and the resulting total cancellation of concerts, festivals and musical encounters. How will this experience change the industry? What will live music have to deal with in 2021? For sure: live shows will come back. Live streams, which have already radically gained in importance, will probably remain just like drive-in concerts. What will change, however, is the promoter and agency landscape, where many small ones will not have survived the pandemic. There will open new offices instead. What will also change is our perception of live music & data analytics.

Live Music & Data Analytics

Right at the beginning of the new year Jordan Gates from Megaphone Agency (a Chicago-based music booking agency) wrote a super interesting guest post on “music think tank” with some live music industry predictions for 2021. Regarding the role data analytics will play in the near future he says:  “The music industry has historically relied heavily on intuition to find talent and strikes deals. Having a ‘gut feeling’ about an artist is still really important. It’s an invaluable skill to the best talent scouts that know what to look for. But it is not a way to scale a business effectively. In the new live music industry, the stakes are higher than ever and there is less room for error. Relying on intuition alone is a sure way to miss out on some big opportunities.

Technology is getting better and there is an abundance of data at our fingertips. All types of businesses are using it to make more intelligent decisions. The music industry is already using some of these tools but hasn’t yet embraced them to the extent that it should. There are limited success stories, such as record labels using machine learning and AI to identify new hit music. We predict that there will be more adoption of advanced data analytics in the music industry this year. Businesses operating in the live music space in particular should be using data to make more informed decisions.”

Pioneer of the New Live Music Industry

One of these new tools that have not been taken so seriously so far, which brings live music and data analytics together, is gigmit. In February 2020 gigmit introduced a game-changing tool to the live music industry. The gigmit FAN INSIGHTS allowing artists and promoters to bring their gut feeling to the level of a data-based decision. The adaptation of data analytics to make booking easier, faster and more successful has been the key focus of gigmit.

 


WHY THE NEW GIGMIT FAN INSIGHTS IS A REAL GAME-CHANGER


 

“What counts now is not so much who has the best sales pitch and is marketed well, but who people really want to hear,” said Marcus Fitzgerald, gigmit CEO, in early 2020. “That’s our contribution to the visibility and the booking of previously undiscovered live acts.” Today we can – unfortunately – go one step further and say: it’s not only about visibility but for many also about survival! Those who reject the advantages that live music could have from data analytics will clearly have a harder time.

That’s why the gigmit FAN INSIGHTS are free for all event organisers. Promoters can use gigmit based on social media fan- and streaming data to see which acts have a following in their region and make smarter booking decisions. The gigmit FAN CHARTS are also free of charge.

All promoters have to do now to bring their live music and data analytics together is to register on gigmit for free, give it a try and use the tool wisely. Always remember, as Jordan Gates ends his predictions for 2021: “Cold hard data and computerised models will never fully replace intuition in the music industry though. At the end of the day, music is a deeply personal and subjective product. Professionals in the industry still need to have a good ear and that gut feeling to make the right decisions. Data should be an indicator, not a decider.”


Register now for free on gigmit! Discover the digital age of booking!