Monday, March 24, 2014

6 Reasons Why Live Concert Streaming Hasn't Taken Off

Live Concert Streaming image
A few years ago, the technology and bandwidth seemed to have advanced to the point where live concert video streaming from venues large and small would be inevitable. That hasn't happened and there are a number of reasons, as outlined by a recent Billboard article:

1. Production costs. It costs a lot more to produce a live video stream than a live concert recording.

2. Union fees. Ask anyone who's ever dealt with a major venue and they'll tell you about the union fees that are introduced the moment a camera appears.

3. The bandwidth isn't there yet. Surprisingly, you can't always get the upload bandwidth needed to support a live stream, and many times when you can it's way too expensive.

4. Promoters are afraid. They think that it will prevent people from attending the show.

5. It's the same show. Most acts have a show that's pretty much the same every night. There's very little reason for someone to purchase a live stream more than once. Plus, it may prevent a fan from actually attended the show when it comes to town since they've already seen it.

6. Ownership. For small venues, the issue of licensing fees and ownership of the product become a huge issue. Who owns the product? Who pays the publishing? Can cover songs be cleared in a timely fashion?

Live concert streaming looked like it might become a major new income stream a few years ago, but as with many technologies, just because it's possible doesn't necessarily mean there's a business there.
----------------------------------

Follow me on Forbes for some insights on the new music business.

You should follow me on Twitter and Facebook for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

But plenty of people are doing it, and only more and more are making live streaming part of the business and promotional model. it's working, and it's definitely taking off.

nightMair Creative said...

Agreed! many Indie bands are successfully turning live stream into a major source of revenue.

Unknown said...

I would love to be able to stream a concert that is going on. There do seem to be some very legitimate reasons as to why that cannot be the case. The most interesting is the production cost problem. That really seems like something that can be solved just by adding some kind of pay wall to the streaming option. Thank you for taking the time to share this information. http://www.audioimagesonline.com/#!aboutus/c2414

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...