x

The latest industry news to your inbox.


I'd like to hear about marketing opportunities

    

I accept IQ Magazine's Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy

YouTube to livestream Tomorrowland’s 20th edition

YouTube is to livestream the 20th anniversary edition of Belgium’s Tomorrowland to a global audience.

The electronic music spectacular will take place across two weekends in Boom, Antwerp, from 19-21 and 26-28 July. Tickets to the 70,000-cap festival sold out in less than a day back in February.

The livestream for its first weekend will feature performances by the likes of Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Afrojack, Amelie Lens, Timmy Trumpet, James Hype, Swedish House Mafia, Oliver Heldens and John Newman, while sets by Solomun, Steve Aoki, Tale Of Us, Tiesto and David Guetta, among others, will be broadcast during weekend two.

As well as Tomorrowland, YouTube also previously struck a similar partnership with Coachella.

“We’re continuing our tradition of bringing the biggest music festivals to a global audience with this livestream of Tomorrowland’s 20th anniversary,” says Sam Vergauwen, head of YouTube for the Benelux region.

People will be able to experience four concurrent livestreams, starting with the Main Stage livestream which will run 24/7 between 19-28, with live performances during the festival and highlights of sets between the two weekends.

Fuji Rock Festival in Japan will also be livestreamed via a link-up with Amazon

In addition, there will be a Main Stage livestream on YouTube Shorts, while a livestream of the Freedom Stage will run 24/7 for the duration of both weekends. In addition, One World Radio studio will feature video interviews with artists at the festival and live audio sets.

To celebrate the DJ community, YouTube will run a Yoodle (an alternate logo on the YouTube main page) in the UK, France, Germany, Brazil, Canada, Latin America, Japan, and Australia, which will also link to the Tomorrowland livestreams.

“The livestream will also be part of a YouTube Yoodle celebrating the DJ livestreaming community, bringing the festival’s magic to even more people than ever before to allow fans who cannot attend the festival in person to experience its electrifying performances,” adds Vergauwen. “We’re thrilled to see this partnership grow and evolve over the years.”

Upon the conclusion of the festival, Tomorrowland will upload each artist’s set on its YouTube channel as a permanent video on 29 July.

Elsewhere, this month’s Fuji Rock Festival in Japan will also be livestreamed via a link-up with Amazon. Performances from the Green Stage, White Stage, Red Marquee and Field of Heaven, as well as video interviews with the artists and footage from around the festival, will be available worldwide on Prime Video and Twitch free of charge.

The 26-28 July festival at Naeba Ski Resort will feature acts including The Killers, Kraftwerk, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Peggy Gou, Girl in Red, Turnstile and Raye.

 


Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Bad Bunny sues fan over YouTube concert footage

Bad Bunny has launched a lawsuit against a fan who posted “bootleg” concert footage from the artist’s recent Utah show.

The Puerto Rican rapper, real name Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, is suing Eric Guillermo Madronal Garrone over videos recorded at his 21 February performance at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, which were uploaded to Garrone’s MADforliveMUSIC YouTube channel.

The suit, which claims copyright infringement, violation of anti-bootlegging statute and false endorsement, was filed in the Northern District of California after Garrone, who lives in Madrid, Spain, contested the removal of the clips from YouTube.

“Each of the unauthorised bootlegs, both individually and collectively, negatively impacts the market for authorised uses of the Bad Bunny Works by, among other things, luring YouTube viewers and associated advertising revenue away from authorised videos of the Bad Bunny Works and the official Bad Bunny YouTube channel, and towards the unauthorised bootlegs,” reads the lawsuit.

YouTube took down the ten videos following a request by the rapper but – after receiving a counter-notification from the defendant – the platform informed Ocasio’s representatives that it would repost the recordings by 8 March unless a lawsuit was filed seeking injunctive relief “preventing Garrone’s continued infringements”.

“Ocasio has suffered and will continue to suffer substantial, immediate, and irreparable injury, for which there is no adequate remedy at law”

According to Billboard, Garrone is claiming “legitimate use of the content” and says the takedown notice “constitutes a serious detriment to my informative and outreach activities”.

But Osacio argues the recordings “do not qualify as fair use because, among other reasons, they are direct recordings without any transformative nature or purpose”.

“Defendants have objected to the removal of the unauthorised bootlegs from YouTube, refused to agree not to re-post the unauthorised bootlegs, and requested that YouTube reinstate the unauthorised bootlegs on the MADforliveMUSIC YouTube channel,” adds the filing.

“As a result, Ocasio has suffered and will continue to suffer substantial, immediate, and irreparable injury, for which there is no adequate remedy at law. Unless enjoined by this court, defendants will continue to infringe Ocasio’s rights in the Bad Bunny Works and in other works belonging to Ocasio. Ocasio is therefore entitled to injunctive relief to enjoin defendants’ ongoing and future infringement.”

 


Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Coachella to livestream all six stages on YouTube

For the first time ever, YouTube will livestream performances from all six stages at Coachella, on both weekends of the festival.

Bad Bunny, Blackpink and Frank Ocean are to headline the Goldenvoice-promoted festival, which returns to the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in a fortnight.

The 11th exclusive #CoachellaOnYouTube global livestream event sees the platform double the number of live stream feeds in action last year.

YouTube will again be selling exclusive Coachella and artist merchandise during the livestreams

For those who can’t watch live, the festival sets will be on repeat after the night’s final performance until the live show starts again at 16:00 PT/19:00 PM ET the next day. Highlights from many of the weekend’s performances will be made available on demand.

In addition, YouTube will again be selling exclusive Coachella and artist merchandise during the livestreams of this year’s festival.

YouTube Shopping will offer virtual viewers a chance to purchase exclusive merchandise without leaving the feed.

Custom merch from artists including Bad Bunny, Calvin Harris, Gorillaz, Ethel Cain, Fisher, Porter Robinson and YUNGBLUD will be available.

 


Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

YouTube to sell custom merch during Coachella sets

YouTube is to sell exclusive Coachella and artist merchandise for the first time during livestreams of this year’s festival.

Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, The Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia are to headline the Goldenvoice-promoted festival’s first in-person event since 2019, which returns this Friday and runs over two weekends (15–17 and 22–24 April) at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.

YouTube Shopping will offer virtual viewers a chance to purchase exclusive merchandise without leaving the livestream. Custom merch from Eilish and fellow Coachella performers Brockhampton and Flume will be available for purchase on Saturday 16 April for the entire day, directly on the livestream watchpage.

The collection will also be available for purchase the following Saturday during the second weekend of the event. Coachella will also drop its own merch collection, which can be bought on the watchpage throughout both festival weekends.

“The whole idea of exclusive merch drops is just so fans and artists could have more intersections together”

“We’re always trying to deepen the roots [with] fans and artists and one of the best ways that you could do it is through merchandise,” Lyor Cohen, YouTube’s global head of music tells the LA Times. “The whole idea of exclusive merch drops is just so fans and artists could have more intersections together.”

Fans will be able to choose between three livestream feeds of the festival, with different performances airing simultaneously. The YouTube livestream will also feature exclusive artist interviews, YouTube Shorts behind-the-scenes content and sweepstakes, and premium pre-parties, among other benefits.

In addition, six creators – Benoftheweek, Kaiti Yoo, Kirsten Titus, Larray, Lauren Giraldo and Quenlin Blackwell – will “live” at the YouTube Shorts Compound and capture their festival experience on their respective YouTube channels, with dozens more creators also set to document their adventures on Shorts.

A pair of lifetime Coachella passes in the form of a non-fungible token (NFT) are also being offered as part of the YouTube Coachella Sweepstakes. The festival previously auctioned 10 lifetime passes to the event earlier this year as part of a series of NFTs.

 


Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Roblox plans London-themed launch party for KSI

Roblox, the family-friendly social videogaming platform, has announced a virtual album launch party for YouTube star and professional boxer, KSI.

Organised in partnership with BMG, Proper Loud, and MBA Live, the launch party will see KSI perform songs from his chart-topping debut album ‘All Over The Place’ under a virtual London Eye on a boxing ring themed dance floor.

Roblox users will be able to jump into cars and race each other through the streets of London before the performance and afterwards, they’ll be able to hang out and live chat with KSI during a VIP rooftop after-party. Exclusive virtual merchandise will be available to fans during the experience.

KSI’s first performance starts on Friday 13 August at 16:00 PDT with encore performances hourly over the weekend.

The VIP after-party experience for fans, including an exclusive virtual Q&A, will take place on Saturday 14 August on the Roblox platform.

“We are delighted to be hosting the chart-topping and multi-talented KSI’s first launch party on Roblox in partnership with BMG,” said Jon Vlassopulos, vice president and global head of music for Roblox.

“Roblox provided the perfect platform to immerse fans in the world of KSI, bringing to life his persona with an avatar”

“I can’t wait to race around London and join the exclusive VIP after-party that will connect KSI with fans from all corners of the globe, this is a great example of how Roblox launch parties bring together millions of fans in personal, engaging, interactive, and immersive ways.”

Christopher Ludwig, BMG VP global digital partnerships and strategy, added: “At BMG, our approach is to look at things from the artist’s perspective. For KSI, this means being at the cutting edge of technology and remaining authentic and raw to reach his global, digital-native audience where they are.

“Roblox provided the perfect platform to immerse fans in the world of KSI, bringing to life his persona with a photo-realistic avatar and building a space to spotlight his talent and passions. We’re delighted to kick off our partnership with Roblox through this first activation and bring global fans into the KSI experience.”

President of Proper Loud and manager of KSI, Mams Taylor, says: “We are thrilled to be teaming up with Roblox. It’s a great creative opportunity for team KSI and Roblox to do something unique and crossover both audiences, showcasing KSI’s music and Roblox’s awesome and fun platform.”

KSI joins Lil Nas X, Royal Blood, Ava Max and more in partnering with the online gaming platform.

Roblox’s vice president and global head of music previously told IQ that he plans to grow Roblox’s music offering significantly “so music becomes an organic part of the users’ daily experience”. Read the full interview here.

 


Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Streaming scams target live music fans

A host of new streaming scams have cropped up in the past few months, with fraudsters setting up phoney Facebook pages and listing non-existent live streams in a bid to access personal information.

Streaming – be it of live performances, recorded music, films or television shows – has been an important part of accessing entertainment during lockdown, as music venues and cinemas remain shuttered and festivals are cancelled.

Criminals have capitalised on the increased time spent online, as well as the novelty of the accessing content in this way for many, and the uncertainty that has come with the Covid-19 crisis in general, to successfully target consumers across all sectors of society.

Major streaming services, including Netflix and Spotify, have been targeted by fraudsters, who have sent official-looking emails asking users to update their payment information.

Live music fans are also being targeted, with some scammers directing traffic away from legitimate live streams to their own page, in a bid to pocket “donations” or “tips” given to performers, and others posting false listings of livestreamed gigs and festivals to get hold of personal information.

Two such pages, one posing as Universal Music Group (@GroupMusicUniversal) and the other going under the name of Live Concert Music, list upcoming live streams for Rolling Loud Portugal, Michael Kiwanuka and Jill Scott, Cage the Elephant, Montreux Jazz Festival, Nickelback, Robbie Williams, Brad Paisley and Dave Matthews Band, among others.

Almost all streams are listed as happening on the same day, with links landing on pages for sites called Eventflix and Stream Concert. A section below the supposed streams show comments from “fans” – almost identical for each one – discussing the lack of lag, commending the quality of the stream and recommending the service to others.

“There is more opportunity for criminals to try and trick people into parting with their money at a time when they are anxious and uncertain about the future”

Viewers are encouraged to register for free in order to view the content, leading to a page asking for contact details and other information.

Another kind of streaming scam has seen hackers hijack YouTube channels to impersonate Elon Musk’s SpaceX channel, generating around $150,000 in Bitcoins.

The creation of unofficial event pages on Facebook is not a new phenomenon in the live events world. In 2018, IQ reported on a trend which saw phoney pages set up to drive fans to secondary ticketing sites, rather than official sellers. Email scams have also targeted fans, agents, promoters, festival organisers, artists and others for years.

The increase in streaming scams responds directly to the current climate, as more and more turn to online services – many for the first time – to experience live events.

“As more people stay indoors and work from computers and laptops at home, there is more opportunity for criminals to try and trick people into parting with their money at a time when they are anxious and uncertain about the future,” City of London police commander Karen Baxter, national co-ordinator of economic crime warned consumers at the end of March, just weeks into the coronavirus lockdown.

“It is important that we continue to raise awareness of fraud and protect ourselves, and the vulnerable people in our communities, the best we can.”

A further warning was issued by the National Trading Standards in the UK today, as the easing of lockdown measures is expected to bring on a surge of scam telephone calls in particular.

Members of the public are encouraged to protect themselves against scams by joining Friends Against Scams, a free online initiative that provides training to help people take a stand against scams.

 


This article forms part of IQ’s Covid-19 resource centre – a knowledge hub of essential guidance and updating resources for uncertain times.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Montreux launches virtual Summer of Music festival

Montreux Jazz Festival has announced Summer of Music, a 16-day virtual music festival, to mark what would have been its 54th edition on 3–18 July.

Showcasing iconic Montreux performances from festivals past, including Nina Simone (1976), Etta James (1993) and Carlos Santana (2004), Summer of Music will air exclusively on YouTube on the same dates, with one broadcast a day across the 16-day period.

Other streams scheduled for Summer of Music – an initiative of Montreux Jazz Festival, its subsidiary Montreux Media Ventures, and music film distributor/producer Eagle Rock Entertainment – include several world premieres, including John Lee Hooker (1983) and Charles Bradley (2006).

Mathieu Jaton, CEO of the Swiss festival, comments: “Since its beginnings in 1967, the Montreux Jazz Festival has been immensely fortunate to have built up, thanks to the visionary spirit of [founder] Claude Nobs, a rich and unique audiovisual archive.

“This heritage has made the festival famous and continues to make it shine through initiatives such as the 54th Summer of Music, made possible through our collaboration with the Claude Nobs Foundation, Eagle Rock and the NMAAM. This summer, this heritage is more essential than ever.”

“This summer, Montreux’s heritage is more essential than ever”

All YouTube ad revenue from the festival will be donated to NMAAM, the National Museum of African American Music, in recognition of how Montreux has been shaped by the contribution of black artists, the festival says. Viewers will also be able to make donations to NMAAM, which is due to open in autumn 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Tuwisha Rogers-Simpson, vice-president of brand and partnerships for NMAAM, says: “Montreux is a titan in the popularisation of black music, not just in jazz but across genres, showcasing the wide-ranging impact of black music and black sounds. We look forward to what the Summer of Music event brings to fans and we hope for a continued friendship and partnership”

“Marvin Gaye’s 1980 performance marked the inaugural collaboration between Montreux and Eagle Rock Entertainment; it paved the way for not only an exciting stable of ongoing releases, but also a fantastic line-up of artists at this summer’s virtual Montreux Festival,” adds Geoff Kempin, executive director of Eagle Rock. “We are delighted to be partnering with the Montreux Jazz Festival and YouTube in this summer festival celebrating the diversity of artists that have performed at Montreux.”

Gaye’s 1980 Montreux set will close Summer of Music on Saturday 18 July. Other performers include Rory Gallagher (1979) on 7 July, Deep Purple (2011) on 11 July and the premiere of Tom Misch (2019) on 17 July.

 


Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

YouTube partners with TM, Eventbrite, See in UK

Music fans in the UK and Ireland can now discover live concerts tickets on YouTube, following new partnerships with Ticketmaster, See Tickets and Eventbrite.

As of this week, those watching videos on official artists channels will see ticket listings for live music performances throughout the UK and Ireland. By clicking the ‘Tickets’ button, fans can purchase tickets directly from one of YouTube’s ticketing partners.

YouTube’s ticketing integration first launched with Ticketmaster in the United States in 2017, later expanding with Eventbrite in 2018 and rolled out across Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

UK-based See Tickets, which is commonly regarded as the country’s second largest ticketer according to the International Ticketing Yearbook 2019, is the newest addition to the YouTube partnership list.

“As online viewership and engagement continues to grow, we want to help artists keep fans updated and sell more tickets to their live shows”

“At YouTube, we are focused on both making music more accessible to fans and bringing more revenue to artists on the platform, so are delighted to bring our successful ticketing feature to the UK and Ireland,” comments Roz Mansfield, YouTube artist partnerships manager, UK and Ireland.

“As online viewership and engagement continues to grow, we want to help artists keep fans updated and sell more tickets to their live shows. We hope this new feature helps connect fans with not only the global artists they love, but also with breakthrough local talent.”

Paul Everett, head of music at Eventbrite UK says YouTube is a “fantastic addition” to its list of global distribution partners.

“This latest partnership represents an incredible opportunity for our independent organisers across the UK and Ireland, enabling them to integrate their events on our platform with their YouTube artist profiles, and to surface tickets directly to the massive audience engaging with music there,” adds Everrett.

 


Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

YouTube-conquering Blackpink become biggest K-pop act

After their song ‘Ddu-Du Ddu-Du’ earlier this week become the first by K-pop act to surpass a billion views, girl group Blackpink are officially the hottest Korean pop export, outranking even BTS when it comes to online buzz, according to Viberate.

Using data drawn from streaming services, social platforms and official artist websites, Viberate found that Blackpink (pictured), signed to YG Entertainment, just edge out the Big Hit-signed boy band to become the most popular K-pop act.

According to the platform, “it’s a close call, but the answer is Blackpink. Blackpink tops BTS in Viberate’s overall rankings, as well as their mainstream pop and Asianpop rankings, which are calculated according to digital popularity on Twitter, Instagram, Spotify, SoundCloud, and YouTube.”

Not surprisingly, it continues, “YouTube is where Blackpink especially dominates, with 4.5 billion yearly views and of course the recent ‘Ddu-Du Ddu-Du’ benchmark. BTS only surpasses Blackpink in Twitter followers and SoundCloud popularity (where Blackpink has no presence).”

Courtesy of Viberate, here’s how the K-pop titans stack up:

Viberate BTS vs Blackpink

Viberate, one of the first wave of music-focused cryptocurrencies, started out as an Airbnb-like service which promised to cut out the agency middle man and connect unsigned musicians (who would be paid in Viberate’s native crypto, the vibe) with a database of those who might want to book them.

Two years on, its creators are focused on building blockchain-powered database that maps the entire live music business, including artists, music venues, booking agencies, festivals and other music events. Dubbed the ‘IMDb of music’, Viberate allows artists, music professionals and fans to add artist/agent/venue/festival profiles to its database; following review by a team of around 80 ‘curators’, the submitters are rewarded with cryptocurrency.

Following news that its biggest stars would go on a touring hiatus, BTS’s management company, Big Hit Entertainment, recently announced plans to hold global auditions for a new girl band, to rival the likes of Blackpink and Twice.

 


Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

TM, EB introduce YouTube ticket sales in Australia

Ticketmaster has rolled out its integration with YouTube down under, allowing Australian fans to buy tickets from concert listings in the video streaming app.

Initially available only to US consumers, the TM-YouTube tie-up was announced in November 2017, and sees upcoming concert dates listed under artists’ music videos, with the option to click through to the Ticketmaster website to make a purchase.

“Ticketmaster’s priority has always been to make it easier for you to discover events and get tickets into your hands, and thanks to our expanding partnership with YouTube, Ticketmaster is making it easier than ever for Australian fans to discover and get tickets to concerts and live events showcasing the artists they love,” reads a Ticketmaster Australia statement.

“Artists’ official YouTube channels, such as the Teskey Brothers’, now have their Australian concert event listings and ticket purchase opportunities integrated right into their pages.

“It’s natural to continue expanding our successful international partnership to fans in Australia”

“Every year, Ticketmaster delivers more than 500 million tickets to fans across 30 countries. And since Ticketmaster and YouTube both serve massive audiences of music lovers around the world, it’s natural to continue expanding our successful international partnership to fans in Australia.”

Also taking advantage of the changes at YouTube Australia is Eventbrite, which is also extending its existing partnership with Ticketmaster to Australia.

The company, which also owns Ticketfly, says since launching in October last year it has seen more than 500 venues and festivals taking advantage of the integration.

“Australia is home to so many exciting live music venues, festivals and artists, which is why we’re thrilled to be one of the first markets outside North America to benefit from this partnership,” comments Josh McNicol, acting general manager of Eventbrite Asia Pacific.

“Eventbrite’s integration with YouTube helps connect Aussie music fans with the artists they love at their favourite local venues and makes the discovery and purchase of tickets easy – which is a win-win for venues, artists and fans alike.”

“We’re thrilled to be one of the first markets outside North America to benefit from this partnership”

A Ticketmaster gif showing how it works, using the Teskey Brothers’ ‘So Caught Up’ video, is shown below:

Ticketmaster YouTube Australia

According to Google-owned YouTube, the platform now covers more than 90% of ticketing market in the US, having recently added a partnership with AEG’s AXS to existing deals with Eventbrite and Ticketmaster.

 


Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.