While the world stood still and our homes literally became our safe houses; the creative industry is what’s kept the citizens of the world sane. From binge watching TV shows to at home parties for one dancing to streamed DJ sets, the arts have been entertaining the masses throughout the pandemic.
Live streaming video is nothing new. However, the popularity of the technology has skyrocketed since we’ve all been staying home under government order. What have the big artists been doing to separate themselves from the endless supply of other streamers trying to get our attention? Let’s take a look:
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Travis Scott in Fortnite
Following in the footsteps of Marshmello’s historic Fortnite appearance, Travis Scott performed a live show in the virtual world within the hit game. Clocking up an impressive 12.3 million players and setting an all-time record for participation in the game’s events, Scott’s performance is one for the history books.
By merging the two worlds of gaming and music, artists are taking advantage of their audience already being part of the game. Fortnite has been testing the waters with producers such as Marshmello, Travis Scott and Major Lazor, etc.
Scott’s event showed us that Fornite is a platform that’s here to stay. No other platform out there is pulling in live streaming numbers like this. Scott has also been experimenting with Twitch too by collaborating with Drake and Ninja. All three met and played each other, live streaming to their fans on Twitch.
They quickly saw from this test that the audiences on Twitch line up perfectly with theirs which is what spurred the decision to take to Fortnite and host the virtual performance. This is how any format grows. Test, experiment and execute.
Merging music and gaming brings so many opportunities for innovation. The pandemic has proven the market for merging the two in a live streaming setting is very much there. What advances will happen in the years to follow? It’s an exciting time for the two industries.
2. Diplo & Dillon Francis’ Prom on Tik Tok
Two standout streaming heroes of the lockdown have been music producers Diplo and Dillon Francis. Keeping fans entertained with multiple live streams reaching every corner of the globe.
With prom season approaching the duo collaborated with other artists like Terry Crews, Charlie XCX and Trippie Redd to throw a live streamed prom on TikTok for all the students missing their coming-of-age high school event due to coronavirus.
This genius move created a theme that so many people the world over instantly recognise and related to. Sparking emotions through nostalgia, it’s a very clever way of creating an instant connection with audiences.
The way in which they compiled their music by merging their own songs with nostalgic TikTok trends created content opportunities for days. And with surprise guests throughout the show, their personalities outshined everything.
TikTok is the perfect channel for Diplo’s content, as well as his personality. Tapping in to a younger crowd too, he secured his place in the hearts of the kids that’ll be the next generation on his dancefloors at international events.
3. Mark Rebillet & Wiz Khalifa smoking weed together on Instagram
Wiz Khalifa has been showing up on IG Live to smoke it up with both his fans and other artists. While this is nothing new, he caught my attention when I saw the notification he’d gone live with master of live streams, Marc Rebillet.
While this conversation between two live stream aficionados on IG Live wasn’t some huge event, it was an easy to set up chat that pulled in large viewer numbers curious to see what was about to go down. They chatted, they smoked, they laughed. It might have been simple but here we are still talking about it.
It works because it merges two worlds and two audiences together. Artists who collaborate with other musicians, tend to lean towards people with similar audiences. A conversation on IG Live with somebody who shares a different audience type is an easy way to test out the reaction of fans. Allowing you to start scaling in a different direction if the response is good.
Another reason this kind of live session is great is that it brings an element of surprise into the mix. If you’re not expecting two people to be having a conversation it focuses your attention that little bit more. Curious to see what on earth it’s all about you’ll remember it and will tell other people about it, if it works!
4. Defected Virtual Festival
With the dance music world temporarily closed to live shows, Defected Records hosted a huge virtual festival with big names lined up to live stream their DJ sets. Pulling in over 1.5 million viewers, the record label has once again shown that they’re an innovative player.
Being one of the first industry giants to offer a solution to both artists and clubbers; Defected made good use of their strong community to deliver a new online product to an eager audience.
The weeks following their first event began to get very busy. By then they had already established themselves and gotten a loyal online fanbase with recurrent visitors.
When crises occurs Defected have used this opportunity to establish an even firmer online presence. The hundreds of thousands of views on each of their videos allows them to keep their brand at the forefront of the stage and gives a great opportunity to guide viewers over to their other channels.
5. DJ Carl Cox gardening advice on Facebook
Arguably the most famous name in dance music, Carl Cox is well known around the world for his standout DJ sets and Ibiza superclub residencies. So fans were understandably amused when the techno King started live streaming himself giving out gardening advice on Facebook.
This is a fantastic way to show other angles of your passions and personality. Using this opportunity to get his fanbase to see another side of his life. Gardening is also a great form of therapy and Carl Cox is an advocate for mental health in the dance music industry.
The element of surprise of doing something people wouldn’t expect is a great marketing tool. Going against the grain of what everybody else is doing and creating some calm amongst the madness.
Post Pandemic Live Streams
While the live stream has certainly given billions of people quality entertainment during the lockdown phases, it’s unlikely that they’re here to replace real life events. Nothing can take away the buzz, the smell, the real deal of being part of a physical experience. Experts predict the live stream/virtual concert will be an additional part of the real thing.
While the concert experience will change with masks and distanced measures in place, the virtual world will remain sanitized for safe consumption of music shows. They can both live harmoniously side by side and the future of technology will continue to create even more thrilling experiences online.
