The music industry has faced significant changes several times over the last several decades, but none as revolutionary as the changes ushered in by the pandemic in 2020.
Those of us old enough to remember the dot com bubble remember the excitement we felt when MP3s hit the scene. Well, assuming you weren’t an artist trying to make money from your music since anyone now could freely download and share it.
And people definitely shared.
Peer-to-peer sharing applications like Napster sprouted up like weeds, allowing people to find and share even the most obscure music. This decimated the revenue of record labels and artists alike virtually overnight.
But then Apple launched iTunes, enabling any artist to put their music in front of the masses without needing the support of a giant record label. And rather than selling entire albums, artists could now sell individual songs. This made people more inclined to buy because they didn’t have to commit to buying an entire album.
Today, artists are facing yet another dramatic change in the industry.
That change is virtual and hybrid events.
Before the pandemic, this concept never really got much traction. But once the pandemic hit and people were confined to their homes, virtual events spread like wildfire.
This was helped by the fact that broadband internet is now available almost everywhere and hardware and software have advanced rapidly in the last several years. These factors were both critical for virtual events to succeed.
When the lockdowns prevented artists from hosting concerts, their income pretty much dried up overnight. They could still sell merchandise, but the majority of merchandise sales take place leading up to or during their concerts, so most of that dried up too.
This created a perfect storm that decimated the industry. But not everyone was content to sit around and wither away. Some of the more forward-thinking artists innovated by performing virtually.
Before the pandemic, this seemed like a ludicrous idea that no one would be interested in. But during the pandemic, it was now a great idea that people were excited about.
The collaboration between Home Depot and country music artist Brad Paisley is a perfect example. At the height of the lockdown, Home Depot offered exclusive access to a private concert by Brad Paisley for customers who purchased $50 or more in gift cards. The event, which ran on ViewStub’s platform, was a massive success on all fronts, resulting in more than 110,000 gift cards sold and over $6 million in revenue.
“What I found most exciting about this concert was that it was all about creating a memorable experience,” ViewStub co-founder Patrick VanDusen says. “By focusing on that, Home Depot generated a tremendous return on investment and strengthened brand loyalty. This will have a compounding effect on all of their marketing efforts for years to come.”
Paisley is just one of many artists running virtual concerts through the platform. Other prominent artists including One Republic, DJ Snoopadelic (AKA Snoop Dog), Jason Derulo, Noa Cyrus, NLE Choppa, and Dru Hill, have used the platform for their concerts as well.
The platform is even being used for an upcoming hybrid in-person/virtual concert in Tampa, Florida that’s being hosted to raise funds for the families of the thirteen fallen troops in Afghanistan from August of 2021. This is part of the company’s new ViewStub Cares program to support nonprofits and charity events.
The concert, named Overwatch 13, will be headlined by USMC veteran, Raymond Lott, known in the music industry as The Marine Rapper. Several other artists are currently in talks about performing at Overwatch 13 as well to help support the cause.
“This event is a great way to generate camaraderie, and bring awareness to important issues like suicide prevention and remembering our fallen troops who served overseas,“ explains Lott.
Generation Hip Hop Global, a youth empowerment and development program created by music industry professionals, has also embraced virtual events.
The organization’s aim is to establish satellite non-profit organizations under one Hip Hop brand across the world, and virtual events—especially throughout the pandemic, have played a huge role. To date, sixty-seven countries have enlisted as representatives under the Generation Hip Hop Global umbrella and with artists being severely impacted by the pandemic, virtual concerts and ‘meet and greets’ have enabled the brand to continue its mission.
“During the pandemic, we worked hard to maintain engagement. Virtual summits, workshops, and conferences helped us do that with our chapters and partners. Today, even though the world is mostly back to normal, we continue to harness virtual engagement. The goal is to never lose connectivity by making use of all channels for engagement. Not easy but possible,” explains Generation Hip Hop Global founder, Terence Barry.
The growing appeal of virtual concerts is in the advantages a virtual component brings to both fans and artists alike.
In the past, going to a concert meant waiting until the artists toured close enough to where you live or traveling long distances to one of their tour stops. That meant time away from work, along with travel costs. Not to mention the inconvenience.
But with a virtual concert, the only concern is the ticket cost itself. Especially since most everyone has broadband internet and a computer or smart TV today.
Once artists started doing concerts virtually on a larger scale, they learned that it increased attendance dramatically. In fact, data shows upwards of a 64% increase in attendance when a virtual component is available.
ViewStub’s platform existed prior to the pandemic but took off like a rocket once the lockdowns began because the company was in a perfect position to capitalize on the situation.
“People needed a way to host virtual events but there wasn’t anything else on the market that put everything into a single platform,” said ViewStub co-founder, Spencer Elliott.
His team had taken on the mission to develop an all-in-one platform so artists could simply show up and perform without hiring a huge technology and AV team to connect and integrate all of the tools needed to run a successful virtual concert.
He explains, “There are a lot of different tools available that handle different aspects of a virtual event, but nothing else that rolls everything into one platform. That means artists used to have to buy numerous subscriptions and then hire an army of tech experts to make it all play well together. And even then, things are more likely to go wrong. We wanted to eliminate that by providing a single, seamless solution.”
And they have done that and then some.
Today, ViewStub provides not only the streaming service for the concert, but also ticket sales, marketing, merchandise sales, audience engagement, sponsorships, analytics, and more.
“Basically, it’s a complete end-to-end solution,” says VanDusen.
By bringing everything into one platform, overall revenue increases as well. It’s not just increased attendance. Since the platform also handles merchandise sales, it’s easy to upsell attendees during the checkout process when they’re already in a buying mindset.
That’s why artists are jumping on the bandwagon even though most of the world has opened back up since the pandemic.
“Virtual concerts are not going away. The genie is out of the bottle. Fans love the idea because it gives them flexibility and artists love them because it increases revenue and helps them build a stronger relationship with their fans. It’s a win/win,” explains Elliott.
