ISM MUSIC JOURNAL JULY/AUGUST 2021 | LIVESTREAMING PERFORMANCES
Livestreaming performances: Research results As promised in our January/February 2021 issue, Julia Haferkorn summarises the results of her research into the benefits, techniques and drawbacks of livestreaming musical performances, carried out with colleagues from Middlesex University and King’s College, London In autumn last year, having been awarded a grant as part of UK Research and Innovation’s rapid response to COVID-19, and in partnership with the ISM, fellow academics Sam Leak and Brian Kavanagh and I embarked on a six-month research project, investigating the practice of livestreaming of concerts.
Above: Julia Haferkorn
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Our aim was to find out more about musicians’ and live music fans’ attitudes to and expectations of livestreaming and, ultimately, to equip musicians with knowledge that would enable them to add livestreaming to their income generating activities. The Livestreaming Music in the UK report has now been published and is available from livestreamingmusic.uk Based on a range of interviews and results from a survey filled in by 777 musicians and 707 live music fans, the report serves in part as an overview of current livestreaming practices and in part as a guide to the practical matters of livestreaming, such as monetisation methods, platforms and technical and licensing issues. It also aims to outline the role that livestreaming is playing during the COVID pandemic and its potential role in a post-pandemic world. Five main themes have emerged from the research project.
1 Livestreaming makes live music accessible A large market has emerged of audiences that are unable or reluctant to visit concerts in physical venues. The lower cost of ‘attending’ a livestreamed performance and the ability to attend without having to travel mean that live music fans can now access live music concerts that they wouldn’t be able to experience otherwise. Individuals benefiting from this include parents with young children or single parents, disabled or elderly people, people with little disposable income, people living far from a city with a music venue, and people
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suffering from claustrophobia or social anxiety. Crucially, livestreaming gives musicians access to audiences that are not reached by live concerts in physical venues. All survey participants saw this as an advantage, with 90% of musicians and 92% of live music fans agreeing that live streaming will in future be a successful tool to reach audiences unable or unwilling to go to physical venues.
2 Emotional engagement matters Both audiences and musicians highly value the emotional engagement that occurs during live performance, with 95% of live music fans saying that emotional engagement with the artist during livestreamed concerts is important to them. Livestream viewers, who feel connected to the performer and fellow viewers, watch more livestreams, while those who don’t feel connected watch fewer. As it is difficult to replicate the type of communication experienced in physical venues, musicians need to develop their livestreamed performance practice, engaging with attenders in ways the new format allows. Interestingly, 82% of live music fans agreed that performers acknowledging individuals’ presence in the audience during a live stream made them feel connected. Research also found that online audience communities form around livestreaming musicians across all genres. However, those communities are built over time and musicians need to livestream regularly to allow for a gradual increase in viewers.
3 Audiences are willing to pay Live music fans agreed that livestreams should not be free to access and felt that the cost of accessing livestreams behind paywalls didn’t constitute a barrier to watching livestreams. There was particular willingness to pay for livestreams of good audio and video quality, for livestreams from locations that would otherwise be out of reach, and for
