As the live music circuit has been brought to a halt this year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, artists—and dance music artists especially—have gravitated toward the livestream medium to stay in touch with their fans.
However, musical artists were quite dismayed with a recent update shared by Facebook regarding the platform’s music guidelines. In the update, Facebook states that effective October 1st, their platform and products may not be used to create a “music listening experience.” It was the use of that phrase that caused quite a stir. With the threat of having an account banned or a business page deleted for potentially violating the terms, the news has left many on edge.
Facebook has since added color to the original statement highlighting that most of the guidelines are a rehash of existing rules in place since 2018. Nonetheless, they reaffirm that artists who perform music outside of their own discography will be impacted. The company additionally states that audio should generally not be the primary focus of a video, and that all videos with audio must have a visual component.
The news is particularly bad for DJs, who likewise will be limited to performing their own songs exclusively even in the scope of a mix.
While it seems there is plenty of runway to grow the livestream event space overall, Facebook’s latest comments suggest the company isn’t terribly concerned to be leaning away from the trend.
H/T: Dummy
