Facebook Live Will Soon Have Paid Concerts
For obvious reasons, right now livestreaming is the name of the game. We’ve already seen artists like Devin Townsend, Code Orange, and Miles Kennedy livestream (or at least attempt to livestream) performances, and you have to imagine that many, many more will follow in the coming months.
Well, far be it from Facebook to leave money on the table… so money on the table, they ain’t leavin’. The social media giant has announced at that some point in the not-at-all-distant future, “You’ll be able to mark Facebook Events as online only and… add the ability for Pages to charge for access to events with Live videos on Facebook – anything from online performances to classes to professional conferences.” Furthermore, the platform is “bringing back Live With so you can add another person into your live video, no matter where they are in the world” — meaning bandmates don’t even have to be in the same room to perform together (although, naturally, backing tracks also remain a viable option). And on top of all of that, users with limited data/ shitty connections/ etc. will have the option to listen to just the audio from any such livestream.
Again, it’s hard not to imagine a lot of bands taking advantage of this in the coming months. Obviously there are already services that allow one to charge for a livestreamed event, but Facebook is, well, Facebook. The brand recognition can’t hurt. And even if FB takes a cut of all paid performances — which I assume that they, or any of their competitors, will — it might be worth it for bands to take advantage of the ability to put on a show despite the current state of the world. It will provide opportunities to promote new albums, and it will provide opportunities to make money… heck, I imagine it will lower the artists’ overhead for a regular performance, since they don’t have pay transportation fees or any of that shit, and enable them to play to more fans all at the same time. It’s not a perfect option, but it ain’t a bad one, either.
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