Bandsintown is expanding its livestream programming

The lockdown has produced a silver lining for Bandsintown and its users.

The concert discovery platform and direct-to-fan platform reports its Bandsintown LIVE channel on Twitch has reached 10 million viewers in the month-and-a-half since its March 20 launch, and its bi-weekly live performances will now ramp up to five days each week.

From this week Bandsintown Live, will host dedicated livestreams themed around genres or showcasing emerging and established artists.

Mondays are all about established and new country, alt-country, Americana and singer-songwriters. Tuesday is focused on new and rising artists across all styles. Wednesday will feature an “eclectic mix” of music from around the globe; Thursday will showcase underground club culture all the way up to mainstream EDM, DJ, Dance, Urban and Latin; and Friday is new release music day.

Also, weekend slots will be loaded with footage from festivals, channel takeovers and “experiments.”

Livestream gig

Bandsintown’s push is evidence that livestreaming is an effective route for artists to connect with their fans during the pandemic, execs say, and there’s money to be made from it.

“We are fans first, and we know live streaming has something valuable to offer music lovers,” says Fabrice Sergent, Bandsintown’s Managing Partner.

“There’s a striking intimacy to this format we think is here to stay. In a different way from live events, artists deeply connect with their fans.”

In time, streams will turn into new sources of income for such artists, helping them launch new music, sell merch or ticketed events, Sergent adds.

The New York-based company has the numbers to back it up. With all venues shut, artists stuck at home and and music fans desperate for fresh content, the number of livestream events added to Bandsintown between April 22-28 rose to a weekly total of 3,109, up 21.5% from the previous week, a figure that was already up 11.75% from the previous week.

Bandsintown boasts 187 million monthly active fans globally, over 55 million registered concert goers and 530,000 artists registered to its platform.

According to a pre-lockdown report by Billboard, only 3.8 per cent of all livestreams on Bandsintown were by artists with more than 250,000 followers on the platform. Since March 20, that rate has lifted to 5.3 per cent, up by 41 per cent.

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.