Streaming
Choosing A Livestream Platform: A Guide For Artists And Managers
The New Livestreaming Landscape Here’s how the leading livestream platforms stack up on revenue split, merch integration and more key variables for artists. When the coronavirus shut down the live industry, artists had no choice but to cancel or postpone their tours. Now they face an overwhelming range of choices as dozens of livestream platforms compete to be the next big virtual stage. Many of these livestream companies launched amid the pandemic, while new services are debuting on an almost weekly basis. They have much in common and are sometimes difficult to tell apart, but employ a variety of business models — including pay-per-view ticketing, sponsorship and virtual tipping. To help artists make an educated decision about which platform to use to reach their fans — or collect new one...
If You Stream It, Will They Come? Inside The Livestream Boom
Sessions founder Tim Westergren estimates the market for virtual concerts is worth $1 billion with the potential to grow to “tens of billions” in just a few years, but can that rate of expansion continue when actual live shows resume? At a 2007 Los Angeles music industry function, Ray Smith was pitching his new company, BE-AT.TV, to a high-ranking Live Nation executive. The business was focused on livestreaming electronic music festivals like Tomorrowland and Ultra Music Festival, and Smith says the executive’s reaction was not as he had hoped: “He was like, ‘Who the hell is going to sit at home and watch a bunch of kids partying on a laptop?'” Thirteen years and a global pandemic later, millions of music fans worldwide are doing just that, and Smith’s newly rebranded BeA...
RBD’s Catalog Coming Soon to All Streaming Platforms
When RBD performed their last concert on Dec. 22, 2008 in Madrid, the world said goodbye to a Mexican band that became an unstoppable force, thanks to their hit telenovela Rebelde and a series of coming-of-age pop anthems featuring members Anahí, Alfonso Herrera, Dulce María, Christian Chavez, Maite Perroni and Christopher von Uckermann. The group’s music has been hard to find as well, given its absence on streaming services. You could consider yourself lucky if you had a physical copy of one of their chart-topping albums or had attended one of their sold-out concerts around the world. But 12 years later, RBD’s catalog is set to be made available across all digital streaming platforms as of midnight Sept. 4. Why the catalog wasn’t available before is a complex story ...
With 100 Million U.S. Subscribers, Streaming Services Declare: ‘We Are Fully Part of This Industry’
The topline stats in the new “Streaming Forward” report from trade group the Digital Media Association (DiMA) are reason enough to sit up and notice. By the end of 2019, there were 99 million active streaming subscribers — procured from 87.5 million paid users — in the U.S. alone. And over the previous two years, paid subs jumped 74.6% and revenue rose 57.7%, fueling optimism for a long-suffering industry and turning streaming services, labels and publishers into hot investments. It’s no wonder Spotify’s stock is soaring and Warner Music Group had a successful IPO in the pandemic’s early days. Streaming has made music hot again. But the 43-page report, conducted by MiDIA Research for DiMA, begs the question on why they would fund such a market research study. ...
TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer Resigns Amid White House Pressure to Sell App
TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer resigned Thursday amid U.S. pressure for its Chinese owner to sell the popular video app, which the White House says is a security risk. In a letter to employees, Mayer said that his decision to leave comes after the “political environment has sharply changed.” His resignation follows President Donald Trump’s order to ban TikTok unless its parent company, ByteDance, sells its U.S. operations to an American company within 90 days. “I have done significant reflection on what the corporate structural changes will require, and what it means for the global role I signed up for,” he said in the letter. “Against this backdrop, and as we expect to reach a resolution very soon, it is with a heavy heart that I wanted to let you all know that I have decided to leave the company...
Triller Aims to Drastically Boost Indian Audience With New JioSaavn Deal
Triller and leading Indian music streaming service JioSaavn have struck a new partnership designed to expand the video-sharing app’s reach in the country. Under the agreement, which was announced Monday, all music videos offered inside JioSaavn will be Triller music videos, further expanding the app’s visibility in the country. Additionally, JioSaavn’s main screen will prominently display a button inviting users to make their own Triller videos. The new partnership comes on the heels of India’s ban of Triller competitor TikTok in late June over national security concerns. Following the ban, Triller surged to No. 1 on Apple’s App Store in the country. “We couldn’t be more pleased to have partnered with not only the biggest company in India but one of the biggest and ...
Napster Sold to Virtual Reality Concert App MelodyVR for $70 Million
Napster is on the move, again. London-based virtual reality concerts company MelodyVR announced on Tuesday that it is acquiring Rhapsody International, which operates as Napster, from its majority owner RealNetworks for the price tag of $70 million. MelodyVR, which operates an app specializing in live virtual reality music experiences, plans on combining with Napster to create the “first ever music entertainment platform which combines immersive visual content and music streaming,” said Anthony Matchett, MelodyVR’s CEO. The $70 million transaction is expected to close by year’s end and breaks down as $15 million in cash, $11 million in MelodyVR stock and the assumption of roughly $44 million in payments owed by Napster to various music industry entities. “For music&...
#MetallicaMondays Concert Series Ends with Metallica’s 2017 Mexico City Show: Watch
It’s been quite a treat for Metallica fans, but all good things must come to an end. The metal legends are ending their #MetallicaMondays streaming concert series with a Mexico City show from 2017. Metallica launched the free weekly series at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to provide “live” entertainment to their fans as the concert industry shut down. After five months of digging into the archives for full concerts ranging from 1983 through 2019, the Mexico City show will close out the series. The band announced the news on Monday morning (August 24th) via Twitter, stating, “#MetallicaMondays reaches the end of the line. Tune in tonight for Live in Mexico City, the 23rd & final installment of the series, shot in front of a fired-up crowd in 2017. Tune in at 5 PM PDT o...
Shudder Announces 61 Days of Halloween Starting September
Shudder already celebrated Halfway to Halloween back in April. Come September, however, they’re bringing the real tricks and treats with 61 Days of Halloween, and today they’ve announced all kinds of exciting festivities. The two-month celebration will feature weekly original programming, a new Halloween special of The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs, a sequel to the one and only Ghoul Log, and, yes, the return of the Shudder Halloween Hotline. “We usually call October our ‘Super Bowl month’ but this year we’re starting on September 1st, so the 61 Days of Halloween will be our Super Bowl combined with Mardi Gras and Christmas,” said Shudder GM Craig Engler in a press release, who also teased a surprise at the end of the month “that will have horror fans everywhere talking.” Editors’...
Behemoth Announce Immersive In Absentia Dei Livestream Concert
Behemoth have announced a new immersive livestream event, “In Absentia Dei”. The black metal auteurs will broadcast the concert live from an undisclosed Polish church on September 5th, with special guests Imperial Triumphant performing from New York City. The show will stream in 4K high-definition with eight different camera angles to choose from — as well as a “Director’s Cut” option, ostensibly edited from the various camera angles. As per the press release, “parts of the performance may offend,” so the event is recommended for viewers 18 and up. “We bring a new offering for our faithful Legions!” Behemoth frontman Nergal declared in the press release. “You’ve seen Behemoth in many places across the globe, but never before in the Holy Church. This is a truly innovative event of whic...
The Philo Streaming Network Adds TV One To Its Channel Lineup
Source: Philo / Philo An emerging streaming app is about deliver even more Black excellence to its viewers. A new partnership is set to give our culture a bigger platform to shine. This week Philo and TV One announced a distribution agreement, adding the channel to Philo‘s lineup of 60+ channels for $20 per month. This marks TV One’s first vMVPD distribution deal. Philo subscribers can watch a broad range of real-life and entertainment-focused original programming on TV One, including classic series, movies, and music designed to entertain and inform a diverse audience of adult black viewers, including popular original series Unsung, Uncensored, ATL Homicide, and Fatal Attraction. The addition of TV One will align with Philo‘s lineup that includes recentl...
What’s Streaming on Hulu in September 2020
Hulu is prepping for spooky season in September 2020. Next month, the streamer is unlocking a bunch of tricks and treats: Wes Craven’s The Last House on the Left, Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead II, James Cameron’s The Terminator, and — get this — every single movie in the Twilight series. Vamps unite! Also exciting is the premiere of Keith Knight’s new irreverent comedy series Woke. The show follows a Black cartoonist whose career success is slightly derailed when an unexpected incident changes everything in his life. What’s more, Hulu is porting over all the goodies from FX. That includes the new season from Archer and the highly anticipated fourth season of Noah Hawley’s Fargo, which was postponed way, way back in April. Check out the full list below, pick up some Halloween candy, and, of course,...
