Ever since the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic, live streaming music has become an extremely important part of the music industry. This has lead to all kinds of amazing streams from #togetherathome to Tik Tok songwriting with various artists and casual performances from home.
Thanks to this, many artists have been able to grow in popularity, get creative and release new music as well as become closer to their fans than ever before.
In the above video, RockSound Magazine got in touch with various artists to create the Summer Show. This is similar to that of a festival but is done from home or in a socially distant way. I think this is a successful stream because it includes a range of artists. Additionally, each artist or band has their own strengths that add to the stream to make it a success. In the following paragraphs, I will discuss a few that stand out to me.
Video Production:
From 0:53 – 7:21 Hot Milk perform their set. This is successful due to many things but one thing that stands out to me is the location of the stream. They appear to be performing on a stage. This is a quite nostalgic feeling for the viewers at the moment as many are missing live gigs (due to lockdown) and are most likely watching the stream because of that fact. The reason why I think this makes the stream successful is because the band were able to perform together and create an amazing atmosphere. This, of course, was helped by the use of camera angles and video quality. The camera equipment that was being used was clear and the angles that were used focused on each band member in turn during times where attention was needed. For example when Hannah was singing.
From 44:29 – 47:40 John from The Maine introduces his band from his couch at home but the music itself is a pre-recorded performance in what I believe is his home studio. This stood out to me because it shows how live-streamed concerts don’t necessarily have to be performed at the same time as the stream. The use of lighting in this performance creates the impression of professionalism and the strategic placement of the mirror means that the audience are not disconnected from the performance because John’s back is turned away from the camera and towards the piano. Interestingly, this song is an acoustic version because due to Covid-19 restrictions, the band could not get together and so this was performed by just John on his own.
Audio Production:
Unlike The Maine, State Champs have taken a different approach (54:40 – 1:01:48). Playing their “quarantunes”, they all perform their parts individually in the safety of their own houses. This means that the whole band could carry out a performance without breaking lockdown restrictions. This makes their set successful because their set can be played normally and allows people to view each member from a whole new perspective. These recordings were then edited so that they could be seen together too which adds a feeling of unity and togetherness. I enjoyed watching this because I got to see how a great band can communicate. I also noticed that the sound quality was very clear due to the correct use of the right mics for each instrument. I noticed that the drums were set up just like in a recording studio. It makes the stream have an extremely professional feel and I really enjoyed watching it purely because of the clarity of the music.
Content and Structure:
Similarly, Against the Current also did their performance remotely and away from the other band members. The song they performed is called Dreaming Alone and was first released on their Gravity EP in 2015. It is interesting that 5 years later they decided to perform this live for Rocksound. In a Tweet, lead singer Crissy Costanza said “y’all really blew this up” (Costanza, 2020). This proves that the song choice made the stream successful as many fans shared this performance. Another thing that makes this stream so amazing is that they have TAKA as a featured artist and he recorded his part completely separately and yet it was able to be added into the stream extremely successfully. I find the use of editing in this video to feature each member of the song in boxes is quite different and pleasing to watch. They also used really good quality sound equipment which again makes their stream clear.
Management:
This stream was made widely available for free on YouTube by RockSound. This was a very good idea as many people can access this platform from a range of devices without paying anything. This extends the audience to millions of fans across the world and I believe that this is more effective than that of Instagram live streams. Of course, that doesn’t rule out the use of such social media platforms for promotional purposes. In fact, RockSound took to the likes of Twitter (Sound, 2020) and Facebook to upload the performances separately and to let people know all about it. As well as uploading a short post on their website with a link to the video and the lineup list (Watch The Rock Sound Summer Show In Full Right Here – News – Rock Sound Magazine, 2020). The YouTube video alone has had 5.7k views in the past 4 weeks, that shows how successful this has been.
They also have a logo for the show, which has a summer feeling due to the image of the ocean and use of bright colours. This draws attention and causes people to find it pleasing and want to click on it to find out more. Here is the icon:
Bibliography:
Costanza, C., 2020. Twitter. [online] Twitter.com. Available at: <https://twitter.com/ChrissyCostanza/status/1297364467714588673?s=20> [Accessed 17 September 2020].
Rock Sound Magazine. 2020. Watch The Rock Sound Summer Show In Full Right Here – News – Rock Sound Magazine. [online] Available at: <https://www.rocksound.tv/news/read/watch-the-rock-sound-summer-show-in-full-right-here> [Accessed 20 September 2020].
2020. RockSound Summer Show 2020 (Full Live Performances). [online] Available at: <https://youtu.be/Tbg6QdCO_a8> [Accessed 17 September 2020].
Sound, R., 2020. Twitter. [online] Twitter.com. Available at: <https://twitter.com/rocksound/status/1296839479194337281?s=20> [Accessed 20 September 2020].
Twitter.com. 2020. Twitter. [online] Available at: <https://twitter.com/i/events/1296817956836511746> [Accessed 20 September 2020].