Introducing a new content feature on Kaffeine Buzz, TheConnected.Buzz, a weekly roundup of festival, live event, music business, and technology news. This includes original Kaffeine Buzz articles and some of the best industry pieces from the past week.
The Tragedy at Pulse – Can it Lead to a United Force for More Gun Control?
There was the mass shooting at the Bataclan Theatre in Paris. There was the fatality and three injuries during the backstage shooting at Irving Plaza in New York in May. The fatal shooting of singer and former contestant on The Voice, Christina Grimmie, at Orlando’s Plaza Live during a meet-and-greet this past Friday night. One day later, there was the mass shooting at Pulse nightclub.
The conversations between promoters, venue operators and performers surrounding venue and event safety are getting tenser.
A Connected Festival Report:
Festival’s Live Streaming Momentum Mirrors Brand’s Future in Video
This past weekend wrapped the 2016 Governors Ball, and although Day 3 of the festival was canceled due to weather predictions of lightning and flooding, Days 1 and 2 packed a punch. For those of us not physically at the festival, we were still able to enjoy daytime sets from Eliot Sumner, London Soul, Holly Miranda, Catfish and the Bottlemen, and Kristine and the Queens via the Gov Ball webcast on Live Nation TV’s YouTube channel. In the evening, VICELAND’s Noisy cable channel aired live performances as well (albeit, with idiotic banter by Noisey hosts in between acts).
No crowds. No rain. Being as close as one can get to being there without being there. And all for free.
Midem Attendance Drops 20%, Gets Skewered for ‘Manels’
Fifty years ago when Midem launched its international music business conference, it was the only game in town, state or country for that matter. This year, it’s reported that Midem’s attendance fell 20% from 5,500 in 2015 to 4,400 in 2016.
Midem also got slammed for a common occurrence in many entertainment and tech business conferences in general, but one that more are calling out in the age of awareness and diversity: the all male, all white panel participants.
Snapchat Continues Their World Domination, This Time with AEG Live
Snapchat success continues to steam ahead in the month of June. First Twitter got spanked again when Snapchat pulled ahead in daily user number with 150 million to Twitter’s 140 million. Then the 10-second video champs creept their way into Instagram’s territory.
According to Business Insider, Snapchat has overtaken Instagram in the amount of time users spend in the app. This includes Facebook’s other apps, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. The Facebook app itself is still ahead in terms of iPhone users in the US, and all Facebook apps continue to enjoy higher numbers of daily active users as compared to Snapchat.
Let’s Be Friends – hmv Digital Partners with Music Festivals
hmv Digital has solidified a cross-promotion partnership with eight music festivals. The retailer’s digital music store will promote the festivals – Kendal Calling, LeeFest Presents The Neverland, Electric Fields, the 1234 festival, Sundown, Blue Dot, Caught By The River Thames, and Nile Rodgers’ FOLD festival (congrats Mr. Rodgers on FINALLY being recognized by the Songwriters Hall of Fame) – throughout their digital outlets, including social media campaigns and competitions. The festivals will promote hmv Digital back to festivalgoers, providing unique voucher codes to download certain tracks from the performers playing the festival.
Musicweek
“We Bought Fly Ranch”
Last August New York Mag wrote on the potential for Burning Man to evolve into a permanent, physical space for their community. While co-founder Marian Goodell was said to have hinted at this prospect last year, the Fly Ranch purchase is now official.
“Those who have been deeply affected by a Burning Man event or experience have often asked, ‘How can we bring this beyond the event? ‘How can we make this really matter?’ And we too have wondered, ‘What would it mean to have a year-round location beyond the playa? What if we had a place to experiment with and apply the Ten Principles 365 days a year, in addition to the one-week event?’”
journal.burningman.org
AEG and AXS Give Music Fans the VIP Treatment with Pogoseat
New technologies continue to impact the venue and stadium experience. The latest deal between AEG, their ticketing partner AXS, and the Pogoseat integration enables music fans to upgrade their seats through the AXS mobile app. Concertgoers can see the VIP seats available and make the purchase, immediately being credited for the original purchase price of their ticket, and then use the AXS app loaded with their new virtual ticket to gain access to their VIP seats. The Pogoseat seat and VIP upgrade technology will be activated at select concerts and live events taking place at Valley View Casino Center and Target Center, with other venues being added as the technology rolls out. It was first made available to fans of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis this month, with the next show being James Taylor on June 18.
PRNewswire
The World’s Largest Music Festival Welcomes Taiwan as a New Sponsor
Summerfest in Milwaukee hails as the largest festival in the world, with over 850,000 people attending during the festival’s two-week run (June 29 – July 3, July 5 – 10). This year, Taiwan seeks to access the massive American consumer market attending the festival during its second week through the activation of their Taiwan Excellence showcase. Festivalgoers will be able to check out all product, consumer, and home goods displays, from light-weight folding bicycles and gaming accessories, to musical instruments including the LC Saxophone.
www.taiwanexcellence.org
http://summerfest.com/
