It’s time for an important discussion. Live Streaming Concerts. Personally, I think from an Artist perspective I’d be more than irritated but say nothing in an effort to not damage fan PR.
In today’s modern world CD stores are all but gone, albums don’t sell anywhere close to what they used to, and pretty much every major band still around has to endlessly tour to survive.
Sure, no one’s going broke necessarily but look at the bigger picture. Live streaming concerts subtly takes away the last guaranteed source of income bands still have. Sure the ‘hardcore’ fans will likely go no matter what but what about those content to just stay home and keep Periscope or Facebook on in the background instead? As streaming becomes higher and higher quality, it means more than a few seats might be vacant when a fan would have been there before.
Live Streaming Concerts: No Going Back
Yes, technology is ever evolving and Luddite style solutions are impractical. You can’t put the cork back in the wine bottle. Live streaming is mobile, readily available and not going anywhere.
As time passes though more and more Art is becoming available for free, monetarily devaluing the artist who created it. Is this the kind of future environment we want for future musicians? Where they have to tirelessly perform for ‘exposure’ for eternity rather than be paid? Lifetime ‘Musician Interns’ if you will.
Sure, live streaming is still relatively in its infancy. A wild west online frontier of sorts. It’s something to think about with the bands we love. Especially if we want them to keep being able to perform in the epic venues they deserve. To us it’s just a show, to them it’s their livelihood being streamed live free of charge.
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