Streaming music online is not a new trend, however, streaming events in real-time is quite new. Earlier before now, musicians could upload their music and albums to music streaming sites such as Spotify and Deezer. There were few sites that allowed live streaming of music events but they were not as popular as they are now.
Streaming online events on special music platform dedicated to such activities has been of tremendous advantage in an era where artists are not able to connect through physical live performances. And with improved technology, reaching out to a larger audience from all over the world just got easier. A lot of popular artists have begun to utilize online platforms to hold their online events.
Why Host Online Events on Music Platforms?
Advantage of Ease
Hosting musical performances online makes it easy for artists to perform conveniently as they are able to cut back on the amount of time spent moving around.
Unlimited Viewership
With online events, there is no limit to the number of participants you can have watching you perform live. It not only increases your audience but gives you global coverage.
Monetization
In addition to having paid gigs and some other performances, you as an artist can have an extra source of income by monetizing your online events. Quite a number of music platform allow you to host paid events on their site.
What To Look for in Selecting Online Platforms
Video quality
If you’re going to be hosting an online event, you should go for a platform that has top notch video quality. You wouldn’t want blurry videos that do not attract viewers.
Monetization
Yes, money again. Artists also have expenses to cover. It costs them money to perform live even if it’s online. Equipment has to be gotten, staff paid on time, therefore, if the online platform has a means of allowing artists to monetize events, it’s even better.
Technical Support
Hosting an online event involves paying attention to a lot of details. It could easily get overwhelming when the musician is not sure what to do next and is at a crossroad. A platform that offers technical assistance to artists before, during and after the livestreaming is a go-to.
Of the many alternative online platforms available, some require artists to pay in order to access the full features of the site. Some others make their services free for users. Show4me explores some free online platforms on which online events can be held:
Show4me
Combining social and business features of the music industry, the show4me music interactive network that was founded in 2015 has been at the forefront of discovering new talents and further building the careers of already established artists.
The site allows artists to upload their music to the platform and to livestream musical online events such as concerts live streaming and music festivals, with high video quality. With show4me, online streaming has never been simpler. The platform has special features for ticketing making it possible for artists to monetize their shows. It also allows artists and their fans(not just viewers) to connect, interact and chat through the artist club.
YouTube Live
The YouTube platform is one of Google’s many apps and is in popular use even among celebrities both for music and other events. YouTube Live provides both Video-on-Demand (VOD) and live events. It has the advantage of a large audience base called subscribers, though you need to have a registered google account to have access to this. To earn money through the app, an artist needs to have a minimum of 1000 subscribers, after which money can be earned through various available options. YouTube has a chat interface as well and its video quality is dependent on the artist’s equipment. The app is however a difficult terrain for upcoming talents as there are thousands of other YouTubers.
Facebook Live
Artists with a Facebook account can also host their online events on the social media platform using the Facebook live feature. It has basic features for livestreaming and allows messaging between viewers and broadcasters while the artist performs live. The platform also allows you to save the live event after the show. It however has no inbuilt monetization feature; a separate payment link has to be forwarded to viewers. The video quality also depends on the artist’s equipment.
Instagram Live
This is the live platform run by Instagram that is also owned by Facebook. It, therefore, has most of the features of Facebook Live. Instagram Live has a special feature of allowing other people on an artists livestream by invitation. This allows for a much more interesting performance. The chat interface is available while the online event is on, but the messages cannot be saved alongside the event video. No monetization feature exists here either.
Stageit
Stageit is another popular interactive live music app that got popular in 2020. The app allows artists to perform for 30 minutes with a 20-minute encore set. Fans purchase tickets which they use to watch the artist perform live. Online events here are never archived, which makes each performance a limited unique opportunity for its viewers. The artists decide when to play and how much the ticket should be. A chat interface is also available, allowing artists and fans to interact.
Now with all these apps, selecting a platform shouldn’t be too difficult. You can start by giving one of them a trial such as show4me.
