Live music hit by Australian bushfires
A Day On the Green festival in Victoria is the latest live music event to fall foul of the bushfires raging through Australia.
Australian rock bands Cold Chisel, Birds of Tokyo and Magic Dirt were scheduled to perform today (7 January) at A Day On the Green at the All Saints Estate in Rutherglen, in the south east of Australia.
Michael Newton, co-director of A Day On the Green organiser Roundhouse Entertainment, says the promoter is “extremely disappointed” to cancel the event.
“Our first priority is the safety of patrons, staff and artists and with air quality on the site and in surrounding areas now at a hazardous level, we have no other option but to cancel today’s show,” comments Newton.
The cancellation A Day On the Green, which has hosted the likes of Robbie Williams, Red Hot Chili Peppers, James Morrison and Florence and the Machine since launching in 2001, follows that of the Lorne leg of Falls Festival in December. The festival was set to feature artists including Halsey, Vampire Weekend, Lewis Capaldi, Peking Duk, John Farnham and Disclosure.
“Our first priority is the safety of patrons, staff and artists and with air quality now at a hazardous level, we have no other option but to cancel today’s show”
Multiple benefit concerts have cropped up in the wake of festival cancellations in order to raise money for bushfire relief.
Yesterday, Australian promoter TEG announced Fire Fight Australia, which will take place at Sydney’s 83,500-capacity ANZ Stadium on 16 February.
Singer Tones and I today revealed she will play a charity show at Melbourne’s 1,050-capacity 170 Russell on Tuesday 28 January, supported by Adrian Eagle. All proceeds from the event will be donated to rural fire services and the Australian Red Cross.
Tones and I also appeared at a benefit concert hosted by electronic duo Peking Duk in December, which raised AUD $50,000 (US$34,365) for firefighters tackling the blazes.
US singer Halsey and British rapper Yungblud are among other artists to have hosted impromptu charity shows in Melbourne in place of their Fall Festival appearances.
A Day On the Green ticketholders will receive a full refund via Ticketmaster in due course.
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Ticketmaster listings integrated into YouTube videos
YouTube has become the latest music streaming platform to partner with Ticketmaster, today announcing the integration of tour dates and ticket listings into “hundreds” of its hosted music videos.
The feature – initially only available in the US, but with plans to roll it out internationally – sees upcoming concert dates for some of the world’s biggest artists listed under their videos. Viewers can then select a show and, “with a simple click”, open a new window to buy tickets from Ticketmaster.
YouTube, owned by Google, is the world’s largest video-hosting platform and the web’s second most popular site (after Google). It is also by far the most popular site for on-demand music streaming, although it is remains controversial for the royalties it pays to artists, with the so-called ‘value gap’ – or the mismatch between the value YouTube extracts from music and the revenue given back to creators – regularly coming in for criticism from the recorded music industry.
The tie-up follows Ticketmaster’s year-old partnership with YouTube’s nearest rival, Spotify, as well as social media sites Facebook and Snapchat.
“We’ve been experimenting with ways we can offer a ticketing experience to fans”
“At YouTube, we understand the importance of helping artists find ways to build deeper connections with their fans – the ones who not only watch and listen to videos, but are also willing to pay to see live performances,” reads an announcement from YouTube. “And, with live concerts becoming a bigger driver of revenue for artists, we want to help artists reach those fans, keep them updated about upcoming shows, and sell more tickets.
“We’ve been experimenting with ways we can offer a ticketing experience to fans and we’re excited to announce our first ticketing partnership with Ticketmaster. Starting today, we will begin featuring hundreds of artist’s upcoming US tour dates on their YouTube videos. Fans enjoying an artist’s official music video on YouTube can now learn about upcoming concert listings and with a simple click, go to Ticketmaster to purchase tickets.
“YouTube’s massive fan base paired with Ticketmaster’s global roster of concerts and security of verified tickets means we can easily connect a fan’s discovery of music on YouTube to their ability to purchase concert tickets.
“We’re just getting started. We’ll be rolling out this feature to all artists who have Ticketmaster shows in North America with plans to expand globally. And, as part of our ongoing commitment to support artists, we’ll continue to find additional ways to make meaningful fan and artist connections.”
A gif showing the new system in practice, on Halsey’s ‘Bad at Love’ video, is show below:
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