With tours set to remain in a holding pattern, the frequency and breadth of livestreams is on the rise per new Bandsintown data.
As social distancing and shelter-in-place regulations hold in place, musicians are continuing to use livestream platforms to stay busy and stay connected. The number of livestream events added to Bandsintown.com between April 22-28 rose to a weekly total of 3,109 (though some of these livestreams won’t play until a later date), up 21.5% from the previous week, which was already up 11.75% from the week before.
Bandsintown has tracked a total of 12,360 livestreams by 5,304 artists over 35 days (March 25 – April 28). That averages out to 2.33 livestreams per artist, up from 2.10 two weeks ago. The frequency of livestreams per artist has been inching up by 1-2% each day.
While that may look like a miniscule difference, the daily increase has been consistent, amounting to an 11% boost over the last two weeks. Original forecasts regarding the COVID-19 shutdown implied two or three months of no concerts, but the goalposts continue to shift regarding venues re-opening and live shows restarting. As this timeframe bends, livestreams will likely be more normalized, and artists will perform more regularly.