EVENT FOCUS
STREAMLY 12 South Creative’s Rich Allen develops a new streaming platform that provides live music fans with a personalised and interactive experience. TPi reports…
The idea of Streamly is simple; a platform for live events, which allows fans to choose which camera they view in real time without any interruption of the audio feed, providing users a unique live experience. The brainchild of 12 South Creative’s Rich Allen, the app – which dates back pre-COVID-19 – has now taken on a new dimension following the growing demand for interactive, live music experiences in lockdown. “I’d had the idea for some time,” reflected Allen, who explained that the goal of Streamly was orginally targeted at performing artists as an extension of their touring campaign. “We were not trying to take away from the live experience but add to it.” Allen, who currently works in the film and broadcasting sector, has a vested interest in the touring industry, having worked in lighting for a number of touring acts over the years. With this knowledge – not to mention the backing and support of major industry names such as U2 Lighting Director, Alex Murphy – Streamly has been created to be the ultimate streaming companion to the touring setup. “One push back we had initially while pitching the app was the chance of Streamly potently cannibalising live ticket sales,” stated Allen. “However, we have considered this, and we have the capability to geo-lock the platform down to 10m of any area. Hypothetically, if a band was touring around the UK, we can make it so each region can’t access the show until the band has completed those dates.” Allen explained that the app had the potential to give management and promoters useful data such as hotspots around the globe where the music was streaming, which could mean that touring schedules could be planned
to reach audiences performing artists were unaware they had. For each show, a number of cameras are set out in the performance space, which are then streamed simultaneously to the app. “We also take a separate broadcast mix,” said Allen. “All the feeds are synced via timecode. This is a necessity in the development of the app to provide a seamless experience with continuously synced audio as the viewers can flick from one camera to another.” The app is currently available on the App Store and it will soon be available for Android. “The next stage is then to ensure the platform is also on Apple TV and Amazon TV,” Allen continued. “It’s one thing to watch this type of performance on a phone or a tablet but watching it on a big screen in HD with high-quality audio is something else entirely and something we want to ensure Streamly can offer.” During the lockdown of live events, Streamly’s service has naturally sparked the interest of those looking to stream a show behind closed doors. “The gigs we have been doing during lockdown have been very different,” he explained. “In many ways it’s a different chain, with artists and managers coming straight to us rather than through a promoter. With this style of show, I often find we become a tech provider rather than utilising our platform. Although this was not our intent, it has meant more people are interested in our service than before.” In a bid to promote the capability of the platform, Streamly organised a behind-closed-doors show with a roster of eight artists on the bill. Alex Murphy was brought on to handle the lighting for the show and discussed his experience on the event. “I’ve been really impressed with what I’ve seen 16
