Uniting multiple artists for several hours into a single live stream ?
It's difficult for a single artist to gain traction online with its own live stream. An online festival, with a preannounced lineup and clear schedule is way more enticing for viewers, whoever the organizer is (promoter, club, label, etc)
Virtual festivals are the best way to gather artists and DJs around a theme (music genre, music label, cause or friends) and provide a continuous experience to viewers from around the globe
Why would I do that ?
With the lack of real festivals, or just the desire to do a special event which can be watched from anywhere in the world in sync, you can now schedule a complete event with a real lineup, without technical hurdles related to switching between performers
How much work does it require ?
Not much. It requires to organize a timetable for your artists, and get them to be familiar with any streaming tool, hopefully multicam (OBS, Wirecast, Switcher Studio, etc) ?
Which information should I always display on screen ?
It is recommended to always display performer name on screen, and QRCode to timetable. Timetable should be available as a webpage, with times that make sense for any viewer in any location (so no "GMT plus or minus" time). If your virtual festival is receiving donations, please also include a QRCode and/or short url for direct link
How can DJing help ?
DJing can help in seven ways
- Provide an unique mount point for each artist, broadcast to one or several platforms for viewers
- Provide a timetable localized for any viewer (so they don't have to figure out how to adjust time to their timezone)
- Provide a QRCode, short URL for timetable, donations, etc
- Automatic (time-based) or manual switching from one artist to another during festival
- Monitoring (all sources and output) during performance
- Recommend copyright friendly platforms or provide restricted access to your stream
- Recommend and/or provide preconfigured ready-to-stream one-button device for those suffering from technophobia
