A review of two current online trends for the promotion of music

Due to the Covid – 19 and lockdown efforts to reduce the spread of the virus, musicians were unable to tour and perform at venues. Many of them turned to livestreaming concerts, DJ & production sets from their homes or private practice spaces. They used popular platforms such as leading streaming giant Twitch, Instagram and Facebook. Other companies such as Tidal followed suit and started to offer live streaming features. (UJam, 2021) A major benefit of livestreaming over live performance for musicians and record companies is the saving on costs involving hires/rentals, venues, and travel. (UJam 2021) Another positive over live concerts is the large number of attendees that can watch a livestream. For example, The Weeknd streamed a charity performance on August 7th 2020, on TikTok, which was watched by 2 million viewers who bought $350,000 worth of merch for The Equal Justice Initiative. (Cristea, 2021) Another impact of livestreamed concerts for musicians is the multiple streams of income including one off ticket purchases, donations on sites such as Twitch, subscriptions service like Patreon and even YouTube and monetization through many sites. One major setback of livestreaming is that many smaller indie artists don’t have the money to invest in the equipment or technology to livestream (Livestreaming Music, 2021) Viewers and fans had a positive reaction to the increase in livestreamed concerts during the pandemic as they saw it as a way to connect with their favourite musicians. In a survey of 712 fans, the most that viewers would spend per ticket on average was £17.25 and the lowest they had paid was £5 (Livestreaming Music 2021). Some viewers were willing to pay over £20 for acts they were familiar with, which is still lower than average ticket prices for live concerts from the previous year (2019), (Gotting, 2021). Due to the uncertain circumstances during the pandemic in 2020, many relief groups formed, which included record labels and other music related companies such as Fender and the Recording Academy, to create ‘’virtual festivals’’, which offered musicians direct stream of income via fans donations. For example, online concert catalog Bandsintown ran a ‘’music marathon’’ on Twitch receiving donations for the MusiCares Covid-19 relief fund, which offered grants to musicians who were unable to tour. Another MusiCares campaign is the Uncancelled Music Festival with lineups created by Fender and the Rockwood Music Hall, a venue in Brooklyn. The festival featured bands like Waxahatchee and Beach Bunny where fans purchased tickets via a ‘’pay what you can’’ scheme. The artists were paid by the companies involved and part of the ticket sales went back to MusiCare, in order for them to fund future projects. (Frank, 2021) After a few years of the cryptocurrency craze, musicians are now starting to steer away from the typical streaming platforms in favor of blockchain distribution platforms. Despite the lack of knowledge in the technology, many are now interested in selling digital versions of their music as NFTs. (Vabyanti, 2021) Musicians can sell their work in several different forms, including singles, EPs, LPs, lyrics, and samples. Artists can also combine their music with artwork in JPEG and GIF form, to create unique pieces. NFTs can be used to ensure that musicians are paid fairly for their work in comparison to streaming services such as Spotify, as they can earn much higher than the 50% split that is usually earned from streaming revenue, and they are paid directly. There is also the opportunity for creators to automatically earn royalties after NFT owners resell the piece. (Fatemi, 2022) NFT’s allow for a unique way for fans and consumers to interact with musicians, as they have the option to buy rare and exclusive content, which they can resell to make a profit. Fans can also collaborate with musicians by using stems to mix or layer on top of other parts, in the form of Upgradable NFTs which don’t require expensive legal fees regarding copyright and remixes. (Fatemi, 2022) Industry professionals and managers of labels are now experimenting with different ways to use NFTs in order to invest money in upcoming musicians, who may become popular in the future, which can lead to any of their branded NFTs going up in price. (Vabyanti, 2021) Cristea M. A. 2021 Available at https://business-review.eu/lifestyle/music/trends-that-will-reshape-the-music-industry-216932 Fatemi F. 2022 Available at https://www.forbes.com/sites/falonfatemi/2022/01/24/nfts-and-the-future-of-music/?sh=349248495677 Frank A. 2021 Available at https://www.vox.com/culture/2020/4/8/21188670/coronavirus-quarantine-virtual-concerts-livestream-instagram Gotting M. C. 2021 Available at https://www.statista.com/statistics/380106/global-average-music-tour-ticket-price/ Livestreaming Music, 2021 Available at https://livestreamingmusic.uk/report/ UJam, 2021 Available at https://www.ujam.com/blog/top-music-industry-trends-in-2021/ Vabyanti, 2021 Available at https://medium.com/included-vc/music-industry-trends-decentralisation-the-rise-of-the-indie-music-fintech-music-saas-and-nfts-935cc8a5cb8a

#MusicBusiness #Music