It felt so promising, right?
We thought we’d weathered the initial storm known as 2020 — venues starting to open back up and glimpses of “normal” were starting to appear (whatever that means nowadays). But as reality creeps in and covid cases rise, state governors are forced to press pause or backtrack all together on a host of Summer plans.
Now, what used to be a “nice add-on” marketing strategy for musicians and bands has become a new fan-centered foundation from which to build on. Obviously livestreaming is not new, but its acceptance as a reasonable way to connect (and contribute) took several giant leaps forward since mid-March!
++ 3 Virus Proof Marketing Ideas
A new study conducted called: “Media and Entertainment During The Time of Coronavirus” revealed some telling stats:
- 46% of music fans missing the live experience have tuned in to a livestream.
- 28% of online concert-goers have paid to watch a livestream.
- Approximately 7 in 10 concert attendees who participated in a livestream concert while social distancing plan to continue doing so even after they return to live music events.
A few takeaways from those stats (and the rest of the article)?
- Livestreaming is just one form of content, but it can help you connect with new fans more quickly since you’re able to interact real-time.
- Unless you have a huge engaged fanbase already, your livestreaming efforts may take some and repetition time to see any consistent financial results.
- As much as we wanted this to be a quick, temporary issue, you’re going to need a long-term livestream strategy. Don’t wait.
While there are tons of livestream platforms, gear lists, and tips to help improve the quality of your virtual gigs, this list is focused on places to consider to promote your livestreams.
++ Turn Your Audio Into Visuals with This Social Media Tool
Now that there is more traffic than ever online, looking for entertainment, researching these sites could help you increase your reach. They may not all fit your genre and may only accept submissions from certain Countries, but these listings are all free sites where you can submit and promote your livestream gigs.
Eventbrite
Eventbrite is a global self-service ticketing platform for live experiences that lets users create, share, and attend events. From music festivals, marathons, conferences, community rallies, and fundraisers, to gaming competitions and air guitar contests (i.e. you name it).
With the popularity of online events of all kinds, Eventbrite has updated its site to include unique event pages where you can add links to promote livestreams, virtual hangouts, and more. Once you create an event, you’d just set the location to “Online event” to access the tools to create your virtual event page.
And while it is free to list a gig on Eventbrite, if you are selling tickets, be sure to check out the commission you will be charged for each transaction.
++ 7 Online Sites to Promote Your Shows That Aren’t Social Media
Meetup
Meetup.com has always been focused on in-person events. In fact, it wasn’t in their policy to host online events because they were on a mission to get people together, but have now opened up new features to host online events. Their website says they’ve “temporarily updated our in-person event policy to permit groups to host events online.”
When creating your Meetup, it now includes the option to add a video conference link to an event instead of a physical location. Are there interests you have that may be non-musical where you could join (or start) an online Meetup group?
Browse through some of the current Online Meetups and see what ideas for promoting your livestreams it sparks!
Social Distancing Festival
The Social Distancing Festival is an online artist’s community made to celebrate and showcase the work of the many artists around the world who have been affected by the need for social distancing that has come about due to the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19).
The creator of the site lists his three main goals as:
- It helps to get some of the great work that you’ve done out to the world, and projects that were cancelled get the word of mouth that they missed out on.
- We are able to keep feeling a sense of artistic community, even from our living rooms, and;
- Artists are able to continue to engage with their projects by making videos, sharing work, and celebrating the work of others.
Promote your upcoming livestreams here: https://www.socialdistancingfestival.com/submit
Quaranstream.Video
Simply put, quaranstream is a crowdsourced list of live streamed music shows. Creator Shane Martz said his focus was to help everyone get through these tough times with the power of music and it’s a great way to promote your livestreams.
In just over a month after it launched, the site had 20,000 users with a wide variety of genres of online concert listings, including electronic, pop, country, hip hop, reggae, rock, and more.
Submitting your event to quaranstream only requires you to complete a Google form. Get your event listed today.
++ You Are an Artist and COVID Does Not Stop That
Bandsintown
Bandsintown is a multi-sided, data-driven platform in the fast-growing music market, enabling artists, superfans, & brands to connect. Like many artist-centered platforms, Bandsintown has shifted its focus to include easy access to virtual concerts.
As an artist on the platform, you are able to create, add, and promote your livestreams. Get started here and let your fans know where to tune in. https://www.artists.bandsintown.com/
Gigs Guide
GigsGuide is a site based in the UK that lists live events, but recently started to also house a directory of “online” live music events. Their focus is on helping artists and fans alike still use this time to go to amazing gigs all over the world, without even having to get up from the couch.
Get your livestream listed on their calendar here: https://gigs.guide/blog/add-event/
Koir
Koir was started on March 20, 2020 by musician Nika Roza Danilova (Zola Jesus), web developer Erik Zuuring & musician Devon Welsh. The website states they wanted to give musicians another option to monetize and promote their music.
Koir v0.1 currently consists of an event calendar with the musician in mind. Read up on their submission guidelines here: https://koir.tv/submit/
Folk Alliance International
Folk Alliance International’s mission is to serve, strengthen, and engage the global folk music community through preservation, presentation, and promotion.
FAI defines folk broadly as “the music of the people” (reflective of any community they are from), and programs a diverse array of subgenres including, but not limited to Appalachian, Americana, Blues, Bluegrass, Celtic, Cajun, Global Roots, Hip-Hop, Old-Time, Singer-Songwriter, Spoken Word, Traditional, Zydeco, and various fusions.
Does your music fit into any of these subgenres? Submit to be included on their calendar: https://folk.org/livestream/
More Promotional Opportunities
In addition to listing your upcoming livestreams to the calendars mentioned above, you also have several opportunities to promote your broadcasts to new, existing audiences.
GigmorLive (Twitch)
Gigmor has been on the forefront of helping musicians find gigs on stages across the Country. Like other platforms listed here, they have also adapted to the livestream landscape. They’ve provided a platform for many artists to perform live on their Twitch channel every Thursday (more coming soon).
They’ve also recently announced their partnership with JUJU on their premium live streaming platform providing artists another opportunity to perform live and get paid!
Create a Gigmor account and submit to perform in one of their upcoming livestreams: https://bit.ly/2ZJdvsF
Live From Home Open Stage (Facebook Group)
One of the Facebook Groups that started as a direct result of the lockdown is Live from home open stage. Within just a few days of musicians, artists, and bands losing their gigs, Scot Shrader started the group and quickly grew to over 50,000 members. It consists of music lovers of all kinds with the focus to provide an avenue for artists to connect with fans and fans to still have a place for live music.
This is a Public group, so the genres are diverse, but from being a member since Day 1, I’ve seen quite a few livestreams have a good number of concurrent viewers still. It’s worth taking a look at, especially if Facebook Live is your go to streaming platform!
Peek into the ‘Live From Home’ group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/227483271730098/
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Leonard Patterson is a former front-man for a 6-figure party band, a booking agent with 1000’s of shows under his belt, and a certified digital marketer. He launched Indie Band Coach with a mission to help indie bands create, curate, and automate their social media to share their music and get better gigs. Subscribe to his YouTube Channel and get more tools, tips, and training to help you on your journey.