2ndLine Helps Musicians Like Zoë Keating Host Ticketed Shows From Anywhere
By 2ndLine Co-founder & CEO Stephen Backer.
Your goals as an artist are to make music, to share your music with fans, and to support yourself with the proceeds. But, in an era of slumping album sales, often-negligible streaming revenues, and constant competition for listeners’ attention, it’s grown increasingly difficult to make a living unless you have a blockbuster hit on your hands.
Currently, fans seem willing to pay for access and experiences rather than ownership. In this environment, conventional wisdom tells you to give away recordings for free to boost awareness and touring revenues, and then hit the road for as much as three quarters of the year to sing for your supper.
Playing shows is great, but for the overwhelming majority of artists, life on the road is anything but glorious. It means time away from home, away from the studio, and away from loved ones. So what are the artists who can’t, or won’t, spend their whole lives on tour supposed to do? Can this system even sustain creators? We founded 2ndLine.tv because we believe there’s a better way.
At 2ndLine, our goal is to make technology work for artists so that you can play ticketed shows without getting on a tour bus. We’ve taken the layer of interactivity from the digital world and applied that to turn broadcasts into social events. The result is a platform where you can re-purpose your existing videos into online shows with real-time, spontaneous participation.
Unlike live streaming, this format gives you complete creative control over the footage your fans see. 2ndLine events more closely mimic the interactions and connections at a live show. Our site enables you to expand the reach of your performances, engage in meaningful back-and-forth dialogue with fans, and make money online from your videos.
2ndLine shows are ephemeral, never archived or available on demand. This means audiences join a community that’s gathered around your music, just like in a New Orleans second line. Viewers pay for tickets because they want to belong to that exclusive community.
We’ve presented shows by dozens of artists in the past few months. One we’re particularly proud of is a show with Zoë Keating, because we love her music and respect her tremendously as a thought leader in the DIY movement.
Keating and her collaborators at ODC, San Francisco’s venerable dance institution, took footage from the summer sampler concert they performed together and rebroadcasted it on 2ndLine with live commentary and Q&A from Keating and ODC’s Brenda Way. The results were terrific!
In one 2ndLine screening, lasting just over an hour, Keating made over $3,800, more than she made from YouTube and Spotify combined last year. Plus, she more than doubled the size of the audience for the performance, shared it with fans from around the globe, and had meaningful interactions with her viewers.
Musicians and their managers are hungry for a new way forward, and a platform that has their best interests at heart. We’re working hard to make a difference, and we invite you to join us. Unlock the value in your videos and re-create the must-see quality of a live event with an interactive online screening for your passionate fans. And, do it from the comfort of your bathrobe!
