Over the past two months, COVID-19 has affected the music industry with a ruthless amount of hits — pushing the entire music community to quickly adapt to what we now call the New Normal. Despite these abrupt changes, it hasn’t stopped musicians and event professionals from concocting a large array of innovative ideas to continue performing, entertaining, connecting, and feeling. Wendy Parr, the founder of The Artist’s Circle and one of the industry’s top artistic/vocal coaches with over 28 years of experience addressing vocal creativity & exercises, has curated 4 classes and crash courses to help fellow musicians hone in on their skills for the upcoming month.
Want to focus on singing, technique, style, performance, and songwriting? — Scheduled for this upcoming Monday on June 1st at 11 AM PST: The Artist’s Toolbox workshop is a 1hr. Q&A session that addresses any songwriting questions any musician/music lover may have. This workshop focuses on not only providing practical tools for developing songs, a style, a sound, and a specific craft, but it also allows other members of the music community to virtually connect with each other during the shelter-in-place period. Registration for the class can be found here:“The Artist’s Toolbox — Songwriter Edition” Q&A Workshop
Or are you trying to develop your authentic style and keep that “passionate spark” ablaze? — On June 20th going from 10 AM-12 PM PST: Beyond the Notes is an interactive, 2-hour-long workshop that’ll dive deeper into utilizing your music and voice as a vehicle into enhancing your authentic self & expression with specific activities and vocal tools that’ll help you empower your personality to its fullest. More information on the course can be found here:“Beyond the Notes” Workshop
Does taking a 6-week-long course sound like a better option for you to hone in on your authentic self? — Starting on June 26th with every Tuesday up till July 28th: The Ride dives into the nitty-gritty details, tips, and hacks on creating your authentic brand and give you access to tangible tools that’ll ensure your artistic legacy. Interested in registering? You can find more information in this link, and if you think you’re up for the ultimate challenge, make your request via email right here.
Do you just want to take a mental-health day and practice self-love for yourself? — featuring Chris Tai Melodista, a Meditation & Movement Coach: The Practice of Self Love is scheduled to be on Saturday, June 27th starting at 11AM PST. This workshop will dive deeper into using specific tactics that’ll help boost your confidence, mind, and focus that is essential to accessing your authenticity & clarity — all for the sake of growing your creativity and business. More information can be found in this link. We highly encourage you to register for any of these courses! Just because we’re stuck at home, it doesn’t mean we should stop expressing ourselves to our fullest…and it surely doesn’t mean that we should keep it in our own bedroom. Do you have any questions regarding the courses? Do you have other innovative ideas that you’d like to share so that we can keep a lookout in the future? What are some other concepts/techniques/subjects we can focus on that’ll help you develop your musicianship? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
Sometimes it’s necessary to test the waters, other times you just need to jump in with both feet. Yes, there are tons of options when it comes to creating content, making videos, and streaming online, but very few are as easy and accessible as going live on Facebook.
Facebook Live was introduced in 2016 and has steadily gained momentum since. You can livestream events, performances and gatherings and your fans can watch from a phone, computer or connected TV. In fact, with the recent pandemic-induced rise in online users, even more functionality is being introduced as the race for attention is at an all-time high.
There’s no doubt that Facebook has done an excellent job at remaining relevant and even on the cutting edge of technology. While some of their biggest moves have been the piggybacking of competing platforms, you’re not going to find a social platform with more active users.
With that though, here are some of the benefits of livestreaming on Facebook.
Anyone can start immediately
No cost involved other than what you already have
Immediate feedback from viewers
It will become a permanent piece of content
The longer you stream the better
Ability to crosspost to other pages / channels
Four Places to Livestream on Facebook
You can go live on your music Page (any business page), in a group, on your personal profile, or to an event on Facebook. Going live on a Page will give you access to more tools and capabilities than going live to a group or event.
For example, if you are using a 3rd party livestreaming tool, Facebook does not allow you to see the identity of your viewers when livestreaming to a personal profile or group.
How do you know which one to stream to? That’s going to depend on the purpose of the stream, and it could change based on your needs. In general though, here are a few things to consider when choosing to livestream on a Page, Profile, or in a Group or Event.
Livestream on a Page when you want to increase the reach of your brand. The content on your Pages is public even to viewers who don’t follow you. So if you want the ability to have the widest reach, use your Page. Of course, with “organic” reach being next to nothing, you may also want to boost the post or use it as a Facebook reach ad to connect with more people.
Livestream on your Profile when you want to connect with your audience that already knows you. This could also be used as a method of driving traffic TO your fan page by including a link in your broadcast post.
Livestream in a Facebook Group when you want to provide some sort of exclusive value to a community. This could be in a group you have started or one in which you are a guest. Just be sure to follow the community guidelines of whatever group in which you choose to livestream.
Livestream in an Event when you want to remind and encourage interested parties about your upcoming event. Provide a sneak peek into what’s going to happen or perhaps how you’re preparing for the event itself.
Mobile, Desktop, or 3rd Party Streaming
Basically, there are three ways to go live on Facebook — on a mobile phone via the Facebook app, on a desktop or laptop computer directly through Facebook, or through a 3rd party streaming software like OBS, StreamYard, or ECamm Live.
In fact, I encourage you to go live with just your phone whenever you can. The more repetition you get interacting with fans and getting over any “screen-fright”, the better off you’ll be.
Go Live on Mobile
You can go live using the Facebook app for iOS or Android and the quality of your stream depends on your internet connection speed. For mobile streaming, it’s highly recommended that you use Wi-Fi instead of your phone’s cellular data. It’ll just be a more reliable experience. Sure you may be “able” to livestream over a 5G connection, but now you’re depending on more variables.
Go Live on Desktop
Currently, there’s still an option on personal profiles to Go live directly from Facebook on a computer, although it seems to be missing from business pages now.
For now, Facebook is pushing businesses towards using their Live Producer platform. Live Producer is how to go live with higher-end production equipment and streaming software on a computer. https://www.facebook.com/live/create/
Using a Streaming Software
To go live with an external camera, include graphics or overlays, or have multiple camera angles, you’ll need to use one of the many streaming software options (also called encoders).
Here’s a list of some of the more widely used encoders, a base price and whether or not they’re web-based, and Mac or PC.
Your Facebook livestreams aren’t just viewable on Facebook. You can make your livestreams available via URL, embedded on your website, or the Facebook Watch TV app.
I think that’s one of the misconceptions I had even before researching this blog. People really just need the livestream URL to view. In fact, a Facebook account isn’t even required.
Another option, which could be a way to make your content exclusive, is to embed the stream on your website, blog, or membership site.
Viewers can also watch your livestream on their Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Xbox One, and more with the Facebook Watch TV App.
Updated Policy for Using Music In Video
If you’ve ever had a Facebook live video muted, been put in Facebook jail, or just started streaming and wondered what the rules were for playing covers of any kind, this update is for you.
In a blog post, Facebook announced its updated rules and guidelines as it pertains to including music in your livestreams. Specifically they addressed playing RECORDINGS and recording live PERFORMANCES.
I shared a video on my YouTube page that goes into detail about the announcement, or you can also see the full update here:
Some of the highlights of the update include:
— There are no limits on things like music in Stories, or traditional musical performances (e.g. filming a live artist or band performing).
— The greater the number of full-length recorded tracks in a video, the more likely it may be muted or removed
— There should always be a visual component to your video; recorded audio should not be the primary purpose of the video.
The announcement also clarified that these guidelines are consistent across live and recorded video on both Facebook and Instagram, and for all types of accounts — i.e. pages, profiles, verified and unverified accounts.
It certainly comes at a convenient time when so many artists have taken to livestreaming to supplement their income.
In case you wanted a little more technical info about Facebook Lives other than “how long can you go live?” (8 hours) or “how far in advance can you schedule a livestream?” (7 days), here is a handy list of specs for Facebook Live video:
Video Length: 8-hour max
Sample rate: 48 kHz
Channel layout: Stereo or Mono
Bit rate: up to 256 kbps
Max video bit rate is 4000 Kbps (4 mbps).
Audio bit rate is 96 Kbps or 128 Kbps.
Max: 1080p (1920×1080) resolution, at 60 frames per second.
A keyframe sent at least every 2 seconds throughout the stream.
Titles must have fewer than 255 characters or the stream will fail.
H264 encoded video and AAC encoded audio only.
Minimum lead time for scheduling: 10 Minutes
Maximum date for schedule future broadcast: 7 Days
So as I’ve said before, if you’re just getting started out livestreaming and wanting to get some experience under your belt, going live directly to Facebook is probably your best testing ground. Plus, if it’s something you truly can’t stand to look at, you can always delete a post. Think about it, all of the tech is taken care of and with over 2.3 billion users, chances are your crowd is already there too.
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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 the Indie Band Coach YouTube Channel and get more tools, tips, and training to help you on your journey.
Before you get bogged down in any tech, just remember that the point of all of this is to connect with our audience. So don’t get so obsessed with any one piece of gear or new application that you catch that “bug”, you know….. shiny object syndrome. Yes, it’s a thing.
What is a tech stack?
By definition, a “tech stack” is typically used by software companies referring to “the set of technologies an organization uses to build a web or mobile application.” It usually refers to things like programming languages, servers, and software.
For our purposes though, we’re going to be looking at it a bit differently. Your tech stack will be made up of apps, software, and hardware used to run your music business. With that, we’ll look at those technologies in two ways — front end and back end.
What The Fans See (Front-End)
Front end applications are quite simply, everything in your tech stack that your fans are going to interact with. Social media platforms aside, this would be your website, email provider, and of course your livestreaming tools and applications.
Choosing the right front end apps really depends on what type of experience you want your fans to have; how you want to engage with them. There are differences in experience depending on what applications you’re using as well as if they’re desktop, mobile, iOS, Android, etc.
Example: Livestreaming Platform
Streaming live directly on Facebook with your phone is probably the best, least techy way to get your “live on”. You won’t have any barriers in your way except for time.
However, using a livestreaming app like StreamYard or OBS, you’ll also be able to customize the look and feel of your broadcast and even build in interaction and engagement.
Back end applications are just as important as what the fans will interact with. These tools and apps you use will determine HOW WELL your fans’ experience is when engaging with you on some platforms. It’s what your music business is built on.
Examples include your website hosting, internet provider, file storage, video editor, or maybe gear or hardware. Even though your audience may not actually interact or see this gear, it can have a direct impact on how they see you and your brand.
Example: Internet provider
A slow or unreliable internet service provider could directly impede your fan’s ability to enjoy your content.
One of the first decisions you’ll want to make is how you’re going to create and deliver your content. Some of the tools are better for mobile, but if that’s not your jam, you should consider that as well.
The goal of doing this, it’s to help you define your systems. This will help you avoid some of those dreaded “shiny objects” that come your way, plus, it’ll allow you to budget.
Other Stack Options
Scheduling tools like Later, Hootsuite, and Planoly can help you manage your social media content.
Appointment apps like Calendly or Accuity make it easy for your audience to schedule time with you.
Content Design tools like Canva, Stencil, and PicMonkey can really help your brand shine through.
What video editor(s) do you use? Final Cut Pro, iMovie, and Adobe Premiere make it easy for you to crank out professional video content for your fans.
In terms of organizational tools I like to use Trello, but tools like Asana, Monday.com, and Proofhub could work just as well.
The list could go on, of course. But your challenge isn’t only to find the apps that work for you, but to define the ones you NEED. Each tool or platform will have an actual cost associated with them (unless of course, they’re free), but also an opportunity cost.
How long will it take you to learn the app you want to use? Is there one that could get you up and running sooner and more profitably? Or is there a virtual assistant on UpWork or Fiverr that could have it done in 3 hours vs. the 3 days it may actually take you?
Yes, this may be mostly “technical” in a way, but don’t forget the purpose behind your stack, whatever it is. Your fans, your brand, and how they engage with you is the name of this game.
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Leonard Patterson is an avid fan of all things New Edition, an indie-focused booking agent, a frequent hi-fiver, and a certified digital marketer. Since stepping off stage as a band manager/front man of a 6-figure party band, he launched Indie Band Coach with a mission to help indie bands reach more fans and book more gigs. When he’s not working, he’s most likely at a live music event, analyzing Marvel movies, or soaking up vitamin D at the beach with his wife and son.
Want more fanbase and social media tips? Subscribe to the Indie Band Coach YouTube Channel .
