Technology Jam | Ustream Brings Live Music To The Couch And Beyond
By Scott Bernstein Oct 1, 2013 • 1:30 pm PDT
While Technology Tuesday followed a static schedule of postings, keep an eye out on JamBase in the coming weeks for Technology Jam columns on various days. While the focus will often be music related, Technology Jam will be a mix of reviews, feature articles, news updates and tidbits from a wide ranging amount of topics.
As always, I am eager to get suggestions for topics, items you’d like reviewed or technology questions you have. You can drop me a line at parkerjh@gmail.com or hook up with me on Twitter @tmwsiy. –Parker Harrington.
This week we kick off ‘Technology Jam’ with a look inside popular streaming site, Ustream.
Couch tour. Just a few short years ago, that term would surely conjure up quizzical looks if you mentioned it. Now, “couch tour” has entered the vernacular of music fans who use the term to describe the next best thing to actually being at the show: streaming a live music event from the comfort of home. While streaming live concerts has been around for a long time, from theater-based and cable TV pay-per-views, to early internet streams on many different sites, there’s no doubt the amount of content the last couple of years has exploded. There’s seemingly not a major festival that isn’t streamed anymore and scores of sites provide live concerts offering a wide range of bands of nearly every musical taste.
In addition to high-quality, multi-camera, official streams provided by bands and festivals, a cottage industry has sprung up with unofficial streams provided by fans themselves. With pocket internet hot spots, miniaturized high-fidelity audio equipment and an array of technology not available ten years ago, even “bootleg” or unofficial couch streams can offer some pretty compelling quality.
One of the most popular and well-known sites that allows people to stream live video is Ustream. As YouTube is probably the defacto standard for recorded videos on the web, there’s no closer contender to the champion of live videos than Ustream. Many people may think of Ustream simply as the place to catch a live couch stream from a guy holding an iPhone up in the 30th row -there’s much more to it than that. With ambitious plans, Ustream is well on its way to becoming a major contender in the official concert streaming business as well. Having streamed a handful of successful concerts and festivals, we thought we’d catch up with Ustream and talk a bit about this burgeoning market of “couch tours.” Gilad Gershoni, Ustream’s Sr. Sales Engineer & Solutions Architect, was gracious enough to answer our questions.
Parker Harrington [PH]: Can you give me a little background on Ustream – who started it and how long has it been around? What was the goal back then and how has the vision for Ustream changed?
Gilad Gershoni [GG]: Ustream was founded in 2007, and the initial concept centered on live communication between overseas troops and their friends/families. Two of our founders were West Point graduates and the idea for Ustream came when they were serving time in the Army, as they (and others around them) were missing some of the most important things of their lives -graduations, weddings, etc.
Today, Ustream is the leading platform for live video streaming and services millions of users globally.
PH: Is the ability to watch live the most important aspect of Ustream or is watching recorded videos equally integral to the site and business plan?
GG: Ustream has focused on the live experience since Day 1. We continue to innovate and find ways to empower broadcasters and viewers to share live experiences. Video On Demand is a key functionality of Ustream given the proliferation of video, but the core centers on the live experience.
PH: How important is the music component going to become for your business and will that be an important piece of the business plan? I think I heard that more music is listened to on YouTube than all the other streaming music sites combined -I guess there is no question that people enjoy music videos on the internet.
GG: Music has always been a big component at Ustream. Our founder started this company so he could see his brother’s band perform while serving overseas. Since then, artists like De La Soul, P.Diddy, Lil Wayne, Will I Am and more were early adopters to this platform, streaming behind the scenes at their shows. Artists like Brad Paisley, Faith Evans and Riba stream live and then use the Ustream’s Live Playlist feature to re-broadcast their shows to other markets around the world to increase awareness. This year, by streaming Bonnaroo and Outside Lands, music fans had the opportunity to share the experience via Ustream’s platform. I believe live broadcasting is the next big thing for the music industry.
PH: I read a while back that Apple was patenting a technology to restrict live streaming from concert venues or other such places. With the advent of high quality video devices, portable hotspots and smaller audio recording devices, will it ever be possible to shut down fans that choose to stream live events? Ultimately, if Ustream provides concert footage like iClips, will you be in competition with some of your own users?
GG: I don’t think so! The dedicated fans will always find a way to capture their concert experience regardless of the technology out there designed to stop it.
PH: Are concerts and festivals being exclusively streamed for free and paid for by the artist/organizer or will you also offer paid-per-view events like iClips? How about a “tip the artist” model like StageIt?
GG: I think you’ll continue to see both free and PPV content on Ustream, as well as the companies that are built around the platform API’s. Ustream provides promoters, venue owners and artists alike with an easy, scalable and reliable live video delivery platform for the broadcaster to take full control of their events and potentially make some extra cash via sponsorship or PPV tickets sales. One example is The Bridge School Benefit, as they raised additional funds for their foundation by charging $5 per ticket.
PH: Why have live concerts been such a seemingly difficult market to tap into? Are artists reluctant to stream shows, is it too technically challenging to do well, or too expensive to produce at this point with what people are willing to pay?
GG: There are many reasons why streaming live concerts are a bit challenging. First, you must have the rights from the artist for you to stream their performance. Once you have that squared away, you must have a dedicated Internet connection, which many places still don’t have yet. That means you either need to change location or bring in a reliable source for transmission, which can cost thousands of dollars.
Let’s assume that you have a good internet connection, the type of equipment you need to rent and the staff you need to hire to operate this gear. However this can certainly be be costly. When I first started streaming, I was on tour with De La Soul running the FOH audio desk and the technology and available Internet was far from what it is today. Since then, the transmission costs have become more affordable, the technology has become extremely better, and best of all, artists and labels are seeing the benefit live broadcasting offers.
PH: Can you give a little insight into what it takes to stream a live concert as far as equipment needed, crew, and technology used.
GG: Wow, I can talk to you about this one for a long time, maybe even have another article about it. In basic form you need a video and audio source to capture this content. Then you need to connect this gear to an encoder that’s connected to an internet source, which will then send this to your Ustream channel. There are so many options when it comes to equipment and transmission that I’d like to just say this: Whatever gear you get, test it several times before you get to your event before you realize you forgot a cable or something isn’t compatible.
PH: What is the most challenging aspect of streaming a live concert?
GG: Just like the above question, we can discuss this in much length… In short, I’d say three key things: 1. Transmission can be complicated, so the more time you have to figure this out the better off you are. 2. Artists rights can be a show stopper, so make sure you understand what both sides need to make this happen. 3. Production can be tricky, so know your gear well or hire someone that has done live streaming.
PH: What are some other exciting applications for the Ustream platform besides music that you can imagine?
GG: Education, Sports, Gaming & TV programs are a few other exciting areas we are seeing growth in numbers, not only in live broadcasts, but also viewership. Take CreativeLIVE as an example: They started broadcasting just a few years ago with one channel. Now they are live every day on multiple channels and have experienced exponential growth. Shosports uses Ustream as a way to get the fans closer to fight night by offering them a closer look at events throughout fight week, leading up to the main event. Discovery Channel and Animal Planet use many of our broadcast solutions to help spread the message about new TV shows etc.
PH: What have been some of the most viewed Ustream streams so far?
GG: To date, Sony’s announcement of the new PlayStation 4 (earlier this year) was the biggest event we’ve seen when it comes to viewership. The live broadcast had 8 million total viewers, with a peak of 1 million concurrents. It was also replayed and the final tally eclipsed 16 million viewers.
PH: What do you envision for the future of “couch tours” in the next five years? Ten years?
GG: I believe that 2013 was the year that the industry finally understood the value of live broadcasting and I believe we will see a huge influx in live concert broadcasting moving forward. I think you’ll see more independent artists broadcasting live from their rehearsal spaces to raise money for tours. Similarly, we’ll likely see sponsors or brands paying for the rights to broadcast individual shows and multi-venue tours. With tools like Ustream’s Live Playlists or syndication capabilities, you can reach millions of new fans, and the metrics will help you guide your next move. The artists that do it right will continue to drive sales for albums, concerts, merchandise and more.
Watch behind-the-scenes footage of Ustream at the Outside Lands Festival:
As Gilad stated, we may well have seen the tipping point in 2013 when bands, labels and venues finally “got it” and understood the lightning in a bottle they have with couch tours. It is an exciting time to be a music fan being able to catch tours, festivals, and individual shows with increasing frequency. There’s lots of interesting sites out there in addition to Ustream. It will be interesting to see what happens in this space in the coming year or two. Apps like Phoncert and websites like Stageit are but the tip of iceberg. We’ll be covering more sites in the near future on Technology Jam and as always, JamBase will be sure to keep you abreast of not only live shows -but couch tours as well. Happy listening and welcome to Technology Jam!
Written By: Parker Harrington
