Show Stream TV
We all know that income from recorded music has been decreasing since the invention of the internet, the way most artists make their money now comes from playing live, but this is only really the case unless you can charge a fair whack for your tickets. Recently standing tickets for Drake’s tour were, at face value, well in excess of £100, but how can an emerging artist or act ask anything like that, well they can’t can they. But what if the smaller more independent acts could get some extra money from their gigs without having to charge more on the ticket price. Step in live streaming of gigs.
Of course most of us would much rather be at a gig than watch it on our phone/laptop/computer tv screens, but what if it’s a band that aren’t playing in your local town, or even a band that aren’t playing in your country. Not all bands can afford from the off to go out and tour the world, some can barely afford to play outside their own town or city or get the time off work to travel and play gigs. So on many levels it seems a no brainer that gigs should be available to watch from afar. Opinions differ on the subject, some bands/promoters/venues thinking there will be less people turning up at shows, but I’m of the opinion that isn’t the case. It will never, and cannot, replace the experience of going to a gig in the way that music streaming has affected music sales, but it can be an added extra. I’ve spoke to friends and colleagues about this and not one them has said they would rather watch a stream of a gig instead of going to the gig, so surely the threat level to gigs is non-existent.
Show Stream TV have taken up the mantle of streaming lots of great gigs. In the last year they have streamed gigs such as Abjects, Laura Veirs, The Last Poets, Dub Pistols, Queen Zee, Tom Robinson, Courtney Pine to name but a few. They also have two upcoming shows and they’re not just your straight up gigs. The 19th of Feb will see False Advertising headline a show at Manchester’s Band On The Wall with support from Sly Antics and Dead Naked Hippies, as well as this there’ll be a panel discussion and Q&A which will also be interactive for those watching online (full details here). The next show in April will be a BC Camplight solo show and will include an in conversation too.
Many bands and artists are clearly seeing the value in this medium and hopefully more will follow. As long as people like Show Stream continue to add value to the music scene how can it be a bad thing? Well, as far as i’m concerned, it can’t be.
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‘Accidental Editor’ of Silent Radio from its inception in 2009 through to 2020. None of this was planned; I’ve never been in a band, never been part of the ‘music scene’ and never expected to be the gaffer of a music website with loads of dedicated music loving writers. I bought my first record when I was 8 and haven’t stopped buying since. I love crate digging for bizarre and weird stuff, but equally happy ploughing through press releases looking/listening for something I’ve never heard before.
