Will fans stick with virtual concerts now that live music is making its post-pandemic comeback?
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The loss of live music became a huge gain for the virtual-concert market during the COVID-19 pandemic. But now, as shows return to venues of all sizes, the issue is what happens next. With live music neutralized as of mid-March 2020, fans and artist pivoted to the Internet. More than 100 new virtual streaming services joined those already in existence. Sites such as Stageit, Veeps, Nugs, Mandolin, Sessions Live, NoCap Shows, Noonchorus and more -- along with conventional social media, music streaming and cellular service platforms -- saw usage grow exponentially. They hosted everything from musicians playing via mobile phones from their living rooms and home studios to elaborately staged concerts by the likes of Metallica, Kiss, Dua Lipa, Andrea Bocelli, Puscifer and others. Some artists, including incoming Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominee Todd Rundgren, conducted multiple-date virtual series and tours in lieu of actually going on the road. Performances brought entirely new audiences to the youth-oriented Twitch, while Timbaland and Swizz Beatz created Verzuz to present virtual battles between hip-hop and old school R&B acts. International promoters such as Live Nation and AEG Presents offered streaming concerts, and festivals -- including Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Glastonbury and more -- substituted virtual events for their missing annual gatherings. In all, virtual concerts played to a tune of $600 million during 2020, according to industry estimates. And those players arent planning on leaving just because live music has returned. We knew very early on this was something we had to think about, what was going to happen when the world started to reopen? says Stephen White, CEO of Stageit. The company, launched by musician Evan Lowenstein in 2010, hosted more than 6,200 performances during 2020 and drew views from more than 135 countries. Ninety percent of fans say theyre gonna go back to live shows, and 90 percent of fans say theyre going to continue to attend livestreams. Livestreaming is not going away.  John Petrocelli, CEO of Bulldog Digital Media, adds that, This has become a really big business. Andrea Bocellis performance from Venice, on YouTube, had more than 30 million viewers. Miley Cyrus cover of the Cranberries Zombie alone exceeded 10 million views. So, theres certainly an appetite and an audience, and thats not going away just because (live shows) are happening again.  The focus of virtual providers now is to complement the live sector, with hybrid as the buzzword for the new world order. Concerts continue to proliferate online, along with meet & greets, Q&A sessions and other VIP opportunities, and the assorted networks are working to create even more, and more attractive, opportunities to serve artists and fans along with promoters and venues. And many of those point to a model thats been in place for decades. If you look at traditional sports, there are going to be people who are at the games but also people who want to catch the content from the comfort of their own home, explains Evelyn Thompson, Senior Director of Growth at Mandolin, which launched during 2020 and was named Best Streaming Platform at last months Pollstar Awards. Were really focused with providing that same level of choice on the digital end for live music and...create even more opportunity for you to engage with your favorite act, in your house.  As Stageits White adds, Once upon a time everybody thought that once you start to televise sports, nobodys going to go to the games anymore. That wasnt the case. They both have a place, and the same can be said for live music content. Theyre very different experiences, but theres no reason they cant coexist.  The goal from all sides is making sure live and virtual dont compete or compromise each other, and that the latter becomes a way to enhance the in-person experience. Stageit, for instance, started a program during May of 2020 to install cameras and other streaming technology in venues, especially clubs and smaller facilities, and train the staff to use them. Some were used to help those venues stage virtual concerts and generate some income during the pandemic, and Stageit hopes streaming will become a permanent option moving forward. Were looking at all the ways we can be part of the landscape as live shows come back, says Stageits Aly Constine. Among those are offering streams after a show has sold out, or designating a specific concert on a tour for livestreaming, or to reach territories where the act is not planning to play. Mandolin, with a new $12 million infusion of capital, is launching Live+, a platform it calls a digital amplifier that will offer everything from ticket sales and food and souvenir purchases to special opportunities such as streaming sound checks and backstage access. Mandolin founder and CEO Mary Kay Huse told Variety that she would like to see upwards of 50 percent of in-person attendees experiencing something digitally while in the venue this year. In addition to individual concerts, Mandolin is also using Live+ for events such as the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and rapper Lil Waynes Uproar Hip-Hop Festival during August in Los Angeles. FILE - The Weeknd performs during the halftime show of the NFL Super Bowl 55 football game on Feb. 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. He is among a growing group of artists working to create altogether different and more immersive experiences in the live-music realm by using Virtual Reality technology to put fans inside the performances in 3D landscapes or even on stage themselves with the artists. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)AP  Weve tried to facilitate those relationships between artists and fans, and now we want to extend that into the (live) venues, the companys Thompson says. How do we help fans connect with new and more direct ways, just improve the live music industry and the fans experience?  Others, meanwhile, are working to create altogether different and more immersive experiences in the live-music realm by using Virtual Reality technology to put fans inside the performances in 3D landscapes or even on stage themselves with the artists. The Weeknd and members of Bob Marleys family are among those who have experimented with the format, and Adam Arrigo, co-founder and CEO of Wave, a livestreaming company in Los Angeles, predicts that it will thrive alongside the return of live shows. For virtual concerts, you set up a camera and film the thing and show it -- its always going to pale in comparison to the real thing, Arrigo, who helped develop interactive music video games such as Rock Band and Guitar Hero, said during this years virtual Collision 2021 conference. If you want to create a product that engages people through a live-music experience, we should think about things digital platforms can do better and focus only on those. The future is going to look a lot different than concerts do in reality.  Zach Katz, whose Raised In Space invested in Wave this year, added that such VR offerings are completely non-competitive to the live space. If Im going to play $150 to see my favorite artist perform, Im going to have to see something compelling to pull out my wallet again and pay another $20 to see it in the comfort of my living room. Every single day of the week. I think that the music industry...is slow to adopt change. But (its) waking up and acknowledging all the forward-thinking leaders out there. Theres still a lot more work to do, but technology like Wave and their team are going to continue leading the music industry into whats possible in live performances.  The artist community, meanwhile, is seemingly up for whatever the virtual providers can throw their way. Weve taught a lot of people how to enjoy music on their screens, says Ann Arbor-based agent Jim Fleming of Fleming Artists, which booked many digital concerts for its artists during the pandemic. These are not crazy new ideas for people anymore. It was a way for the artists to play and fans to hear music, and its going to be one of the things they keep doing as we move forward. Rundgren, who played more than two dozen virtual shows -- each pegged to a specific city -- during the late winter and early spring -- has long predicted and advocated the idea of touring virtually as an alternative to the traditional road trek. Then the pandemic happened and that kind of made everybody else think that possibly a different way of doing this might be good to have for a backup plan, says Rundgren, who will be touring, in person, this fall -- including shows Nov. 6-7 at the MGM Northfield Park. This is the new normal. This may not be the last time that we have a killer flu or a biological catastrophe that upends the world, and when that happens, well being this situation again.  Chicago singer-songwriter Michael McDermott has been playing two shows a week for Stageit, plus performances on other platforms, since early in the pandemic. He acknowledges that attendance has dropped off for his virtual shows, but he plans to maintain a digital presence in addition to his in-person concerts. Ive developed this amazing kind of community, from all around the world, McDermott says. People have gotten to know each other, Ive gotten to know them. Theres a lot of cool things I can incorporate into the (virtual) who, more multi-media kinds of things, and interaction. Ideally Id love to do a hybrid, keep the livestreaming going and not have to fly 16 times in 19 days. That would make for a better quality of my life, really. So thats kind of the dream. Whether thats sustainable or not, its a little too early to say.  Sustainability is what Bulldog Digital Medias Petrocelli and others will be watching in the coming months. While streaming concerts has become a global learned consumer behavior, he predicts an impending streamlining and constriction of the market. The challenge is theres a lot of noise the space right now, Petrocelli says. Theres way too many providers. Theres going to be contraction there. Youre gonna have some fallout. Some of those companies will have to be cut to benefit the industry of the whole. Its a volatile space -- and will be for awhile.