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Broadcasting concerts online had once seemed a risky business that would dampen ticket sales, but technology and audience size are combining to make the idea work for both musicians and fans, Chen Nan reports.
Singer-songwriter Wang Feng made a pathbreaking move last week. While pumping up a crowd of more than 60,000 fans with his concert Storming at the National Stadium in Beijing, the 43-year-old rocker became the first in China to broadcast his concert online in real time.
According to Chinese video and movie streaming site LeTV.com, which cut the deal on July 21 to exclusively stream the concert, more than 75,000 users have watched Wang's Aug 2 concert online within two days, with each user paying 30 yuan ($5).
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Chinese rocker Wang Feng breaks new ground to broadcast his Beijing concert online in real time, drawing bigger crowds for his upcoming national tour. Photos Provided to China Daily |
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Audiences of Wang Feng's concert in Beijing have the opportunity to be filmed during the online broadcast. |
Ever since Wang announced his 2014-15 tour in early June, his Beijing concert has attracted huge interest. Veteran lighting designer LeRoy Bennett, who has worked with pop icons such as Prince and Lady Gaga, joined his team. It was said the rocker would propose to his actress girlfriend, Zhang Ziyi, at the concert, which fell on Chinese Valentine's Day.
For Xue, whose company has successfully organized concerts for the popular duo Phoenix Legend and veteran singer Mao Amin, finding creative ways to promote concerts is crucial.
"Traditional concert promotion has very low-margins and as a result they have to push the margins in other areas of the business," Xue says.
However, the idea of streaming a concert online was considered risky when Xue began planning it five months ago.
"The lowest price for the concert was 280 yuan but it just cost 30 yuan to watch online. Who will pay for the concert? If people have already watched the show online, who will pay for the following stops?" says Xue.
He initially thought about broadcasting concerts live online around seven years ago when he ran a performance ticketing company in Beijing. At the time, he abandoned the idea since the base of Internet users in China was not big enough and the technology was not as advanced as it is today.
But he believes that now is the time to do it. China today has 632 million Internet users, according to the government forum China Internet Network Information Center.
Young people are willing to experience concerts in different ways, Xue adds.
"Wang is very supportive of the idea. As one of the most popular singer-songwriters in China, his live shows have a guaranteed box office," says Xue, who also cooperated with more than 20 Internet companies to sell tickets, including e-commerce giants JD.com and Taobao.com.
It was a smart decision. The online streaming not only enabled more fans to enjoy the show but also helped promote Wang's successive concerts.
According to Xue, the ticket sales are up, especially for the upcoming shows in Hangzhou on Sept 30 and in Taiyuan on Oct 11.
"Those who want to feel the power of live music, they would pay for the tickets. The online watchers could also be tempted by the live concert's strong atmosphere and become potential ticket buyers," says Xue. "Either way, we win."
"The combination represents a new business model for both the music industry and Internet companions," agrees Yin Liang, music department director of LeTV.com, which has been offering free streaming live shows since 2012.
An online channel was created to broadcast Wang's music videos and his early live performances 24 hours a day. For concertgoers, they also have the opportunity to be filmed and seen on screen, which made the experience fun and interactive.
The 30-yuan fee was determined by the website's standard rate for TV series and movies, which ranges from 5 to 20 yuan.
"The value of broadcasting a live show is much higher. But since it was our first time, we made the price as low as 30 yuan," Yin says.
Wang Man, media operations director of Midi Productions Co, says: "The collaboration benefits both the video sites and live-music organizers and caters to the needs of the audiences."
Her company is the organizer of Midi Music Festival, the oldest outdoor music festival in China.
She says that Midi Music Festival has been working with popular Chinese video sites such as Youku.com and Tudou.com to broadcast live shows since 2007. In April this year, more than 600,000 people watched the three-day Midi Music Festival online. It was held at Shanghai and headlined by the British pop-rock band Suede.
Chinese consumers are already paying to watch movies and TV shows online and the practice can extend to live music, she says. "The potential audience is limitless."
Contact the writer at chennan@chinadaily.com.cn
