Technology / 12.01.21

'A Dramatic Shift in What's Possible': The Future of Livestreaming Discussed at Midem Digital

Access Staff

Pollstar (11/22/21) Gottfried, Gideon

The opening panel of this year's Midem Digital Edition expressed confidence that livestreaming is now a permanent fixture of the entertainment industry. Driift CEO Ric Salmon said live streams were a focus for artists and managers during the pandemic, and although "life was returning to normal" he doubted that "live will ever return to what it was completely before...because I think the challenges of crossing borders will remain for a very long time to come, unfortunately." Artists now have many more options to earn revenue from live streams than solely through ticket sales, and Eluvio offers one example by monetizing live streamed content on the blockchain. Eluvio CEO Michelle Munson cited times when live streams complemented a "moment-in-time offering," noting, "We have now been involved in three shows that have combined the streaming experience with some type of NFT [non-fungible token] offer or drop. That's also being combined with tours and new releases." She added that artists are streaming from virtual settings, while Stage11's Edo Kovarsky concurred that NFTs will become a major new source of money for artists, mainly because NFTs and blockchain offer new content licensing channels. The panelists agreed that the argument about livestreaming replacing traditional live entertainment or vice versa was irrelevant. "Live streaming has [brought] a new ability to tell stories, communicate with fans and express an art form artists are in complete control of. And, of course, to monetize it," Salmon said.

Read the full story from Pollstar. 

Tags: Live-Streaming , News