Modern Music Festivals: Live Streaming To Live Audiences
Eli Kim, design editor
The era of experiencing live music live is over: no more waiting in long lines or trying to squeeze your way through the crowd. Now, fans are delegated to an even lower tier than the sidelines: their own homes. But, this newfound access still comes as a benefit to a majority of audiences, lowering costs (for the ticket itself as well as travel) and increasing global outreach (for audiences themselves as well as exposure for artists). Though as physical lines cease to exist, the real lining begins as major streaming platforms start to line their pockets with cold, hard, digital cash. For now, the modern age of live performances is here, and, at the very least, artists are still out there producing all sorts of music, regardless of whether it's an in-person show or an in-your-living-room one.
Right now, the top livestreaming platforms for concerts are Hulu, YouTube, and Prime Video/Twitch. Hulu is the standard option for dedicated viewers, featuring some of the most prominent music festivals with limited ads. For those who want to watch free of charge, YouTube has always been the go-to option with its nearly unlimited array of viewing options, and Twitch has recently started to be used as a livestream-only platform for anyone to watch anywhere at any time. Although, some of the formatting for the videos have changed drastically in order to fit the modern worldview, a vertical one at that.
“In Coachella’s case, the vertical push makes sense. Like the festival itself, vertical video is the place for brands and influencers. Coachella’s primary marketing tool is FOMO—the fear of missing out—and the vertical video feed is an engine for inducing that desire. Most of the videos shot via Pixel are filmed directly next to the performer, conjuring up that sense that you’re right there in the booth with them—one of those special VIPs who gets to be onstage,” says Boone Ashworth, staff writer on The WIRED.
Most viewers of these public livestreams tend to gravitate towards the larger music festivals they weren't able to attend whether it's because tickets were sold out, travel reasons, etc. This was the case for Lollapalooza, where thousands of fans decided that they would watch it on Hulu this year instead of actually going out. Surprisingly, tickets sales have not been affected much at all, unlike the actual experience of these shows of course.
“It was racking my brain for weeks whether I wanted to spend money on going to Chicago and experience the adrenaline of large crowds, being squished in a mosh pit and standing at the barricade for hours to see my favorite artists perform, or sit in the comfort of my living room and watch those same performances on my TV,” says Mitali Joshi on the North Carolina State University Student Radio blog.
Though Joshi does go on to complain about the watchability of it afterwards, commenting on the lack of camera angles and actual performances shown on the big screen. But would the in-person big scene make that much of a difference? Some fans say yes, insisting that the only real way to enjoy any live performance of art is to see it live in person.
“I think one of the biggest benefits of live shows is the connection between the performers and the audience. As a performer, there’s something really special about knowing that every moment is happening only once and that the audience is experiencing it with you. You can feel their reactions and energy, which makes every performance different. You can watch a show online, but you can’t fully recreate that feeling of being in the room and sharing the experience together,” says senior Adrianne Rosario, a member of the Johns Creek High School theater department.
Others believe that external choices have made choices for some limited, and that the opportunity to just see the show would make a world of a difference, fittingly, to the entire world.
