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How to Engage Live Concert Stream Audiences

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Learn more about monetizing live streams at Streaming Media West 2021.

Read the complete transcript of this clip:

Adam Paul: In streaming, we have 38 minutes. The last time I checked, that's how long people engage on average with our stuff. I think the biggest key to me is this: Do not step away from what the heart and soul of the band is, what the show is, what the client, the fan, the people that give their lives for these bands are. Give them the show, and it can be creative, but it has to be on the band's brand. And I think then, if you can put that together and really capture the band and their essence and everything that they have and their performance and their live show, then you can sell a ticket, and the people feel great about buying tickets and buying the poster and buying the shirt, just like coming to a live show. And as John said, putting a shell of Toyota or Verizon, or whoever around it, it doesn't feel like the products are getting rammed down their throat. It has to be truly organic. You don't want Jimmy Buffett on a soundstage with a bunch of electronics. You need him in front of a palm tree. When that happens, people will engage and go in their backyards and put up little palm trees and buy the t-shirts and wear all of these pieces of the puzzle. And it's not about the size of it. It's about capturing the essence and the moment and the feeling. It's people, the fan. And Mike, coming from the world of the most powerful fans on the face of the planet, if the fan feels a part of it, you got 'em. But you've got to bring them into it. And if they're into it, you're good. You're going to get a positive review on the backside.

Dom Robinson: Very sage advice. Mike, what's your take on how to engage the audience and monetize them?

Mike Schabel: First of all, I think Adam gave me the lead in to acknowledge the incredible army that is behind BTS. We were acknowledged at the Webby awards this week for some of the concerts that we did with BTS. And I really have to give that over to the BTS army. It was really because of them that we were acknowledged for that, and we do this for them. And to this day, I get emails from the army about how they're appreciative what we do, and what they expect of us, which is great.

When it comes to monetization, I think we're at day zero of learning on what will be a long journey of understanding of how to go and properly monetize the at-home consumer in a way that that is genuine. The price of a ticket might change for PPV, things like that. I think we have to work on our understanding of the evolution of the market. The live, in-person industry is really well-known. I go there, they sell me a ticket like a VIP pass. They sell me a parking spot. They sell me a Coke or a beer or a glass of wine. They send me a t-shirt, a CD things, like that. That's well-defined. In the digital world, I think there are elements of that, but then I think there are other new really exciting opportunities. John was mentioning data. We do live behavioral data. I actually know how the audience feels at a moment in time. And when you know that you can actually start moving into dynamic ads, which is a really cool type of new thing that we haven't really been thinking about--dynamically priced ad spots once you understand how the audience is feeling.

By the way, that that varies by geography, and so different demographics feel differently at different points in time for global audiences. And you can go leverage that. And we've been studying that.

The other thing is that you can still do the traditional, physical good thing, but because of digital commerce, you have more expansive opportunities. So it has to be authentic and genuine. But for example, the fashion and beauty and makeup market is one in one with K-Pop. It doesn't have to be just a t-shirt anymore. There are some expensive lifestyle-like things, or integrate the limited drops of shoe culture with respect to things that you can go in and drive in. In the digital world, that might be a little bit harder when you're showing up just at an arena. And then, digital stickers. I think this is something where we have to start blending markets, where we realize that, in the gaming world, in the influencer world and the digital economy, there are things like gifting and bidding and tipping and digital stickers. And those are places to go and bring things together.

So I come to it with a really open mind about where we're going to go. We have very early days in our experimentation, but I don't want to necessarily hold fast to traditional brick and mortar-type monetization methods. We should have an open mind, go experiment, be willing to fail, and we'll see how this works. But net/net, if the objective is to make more money for the industry, we'll ultimately get to the right spot.

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