LIVESTREAMING HAS A FUTURE, SURVEY SAYS

Bandsintown, a clearinghouse for local concerts until the pandemic hit, switched to cataloging and promoting livestreams five months ago. They’ve surveyed artists and fans and find that livestreaming has a future even after live shows return.

In a survey this month with 5,500 fans and 450 artists, Bandsintown finds more than 60% of fans surveyed said they planned to continue watching live streams once venues reopen; 80% of fans are willing to buy access, give tips or purchase merch during live streams; and that 30% of the artists plan to livestream at least once a week in the coming months with 70% hoping to increase the frequency of their livestreams.

“While streaming is not a substitute for playing live, artists say it’s good for them in many ways,” says Bandsintown Managing Partner Fabrice Sergent, “including strengthening their connection with fans, earning much-needed revenue, and building a global audience.”

Since 3/25, Bandsintown has publicized 43,000 livestreams—62% of which originated in the U.S.— and hosted more than 530 artists on its own Bandsintown LIVE channel.

Some more findings from the survey:

By August, 73% of fans had watched a livestream compared with 33.8% before COVID-19. In April, 45% of the artists had performed live streams and that number jumped to 75% by August; 70% plan to increase the number of livestreams in the next six months. Only around 22% of artists have asked fans to pay for access or contribute tips.