Is It Live? Or Virtual?
How important is a live audience to the enjoyment of a concert or sporting event? Would Woodstock have been “Woodstock” without a half-million youngsters in attendance?
The entertainment industry is about to find out, as it endeavors to adjust to the new world order in a post-pandemic society. Regardless of what happens in 2021, however, it’s important to realize that going forward all live entertainment will have an online component to it.
From The Verge: “On a Friday night in September, more than a million people showed up to an album launch party inside the virtual world of Roblox. American pop star Ava Max held a “virtual fan meetup” in the game to celebrate the launch of her new album Heaven & Hell. Despite its straightforward nature, 1.156 million unique players showed up for the event, with a peak concurrent total of 166,620 people — and it’s just the start of a plan to make music an integral part of Roblox.”
https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/5/21502149/roblox-virtual-music-events-concerts-ava-max-interview
Meanwhile, across the pond “livestream concerts have turned into a source of revenue for some artists deprived of world tours, but they may soon have to face added (fees),” according to Inquirer.net. https://business.inquirer.net/314153/music-industry-explores-ways-of-regulating-livestream-concerts
“The collective PRS for Music Limited, which manages the rights of British authors, composers and music publishers (i.e. England’s ASCAP), is considering introducing different tax rates for paid or sponsored livestream concerts.” You know something’s catching on when outside forces look to carve out a piece of the pie for themselves.
Also from Inquirer.net: “South Korean boyband BTS have amassed close to $20 million with their “BANG BANG CON The Live.” This hour-and-a-half-long concert attracted over 750,000 viewers from 107 countries who each paid between $26 to $35 to watch RM, Jin, J-Hope, Suga, Jimin, V and Jungkook on stage from the comfort of their home. Another successful example was Dua Lipa and her “Studio 2054” gig, featuring Kylie Minogue, Elton John and Angèle presenting tunes from her “Future Nostalgia” album. Five million tickets were sold for this exclusive performance, including 1.9 million in China and 95,000 in India.”
Again according to Inquirer.net, some artists are starting to contemplate entirely virtual tours. American artist Todd Rundgren even announced a 25-date virtual U.S. tour, kicking off in February, called “Clearly Human.” The plan there is to play each night from a venue in Chicago (ideal time zone) but create a virtual backdrop reflecting a different city each night, with copious references to the “host” city during the between song banter. The “New York” show, for instance, is on February 17.
All this indicates we’re becoming more comfortable with the idea of watching a “live” event from the comfort of our homes. It’s another facet of the digital economy and businesses looking to market to the demographic that read about Woodstock in history class would do well to ensure they’re keeping up with the times and technology. This is just one more example of Long Island embracing the digital economy, and all roads to the digital economy on Long Island run through 1025Connect. Because its Long Island's premier colocation interconnection facility, 1025Connect's clients benefit from direct access to subsea cables connecting Long Island to the worldwide web while bypassing NYC, as well as a multitude of cloud-based platforms and ISPs competing for their business. This can be extremely valuable as Long Island transitions to fully embracing the Digital Economy.