Pollstar (04/10/20) Brown, Eric Renner

The concert industry has stepped up livestreaming during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has elevated the artists and companies that already were dabbling with the technology before the crisis, while prompting new players to participate and drive innovation. "For me, as well as I bet most other artists, it's just as much to help us as to help the world," said singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, who for almost a year has been performing a streaming series from his Los Angeles home. Technological factors that include intuitive platforms, reliable Internet and cutting-edge hardware have combined to enable streaming of high-quality performances. Adding to the appeal of such offerings is their homespun quality. Streaming also has played a significant role in mobilizing artists and acts whose schedules and gigs have been upended by the crisis. For example, multi-act streams, typically organized by promoters, labels or prominent artists, have propagated, assembling formidable rosters of musicians, often with the greater good in mind. "Right now is the time to work together versus separately, because there's so many people doing stuff that you can group up and work together," said Luck Reunion co-founder Matt Bizer. "It allows a centralized audience and focuses people, versus hundreds of tiny streams from everybody's Instagram."

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