Boxoffice Insider: Resilient & Resolute 2020 Solutions For Live Performing

With the disastrous effects of the pandemic and the challenges for so many in the live industry to simply stay in business, solutions for getting music to the public had to be realized early on in the shutdown. 

Since indoor concerts were not possible at the time, one of the more obvious solutions was livestreaming which, although not a new phenomenon, was a way to reach fans sooner than later.

Then as warmer months approached in North America and Europe, outdoor drive-in shows became a possibility and a platform for safe, socially distanced entertainment. 

Whether or not both solutions will be a temporary fix or find a more permanent niche is unknown, but the fact remains that, when faced with the unthinkable, many artists and event producers and those who work in the live business got creative and made it work.

After Pollstar’s Livestream chart made its debut in May, it was still rather new when it was time to report on the state of the industry in the annual mid-year review. 

It was not until the third quarter that we published the first compilation of Livestreamers – a ranking of artists or events based on a cumulative sum of streams during the chart’s eligibility time period. And the upcoming 2020 year-end issue will feature the ultimate, up-to-date ranking of Livestreamers for the year.

A preliminary look at artists and events that ranked highly among Q3’s Livestreamers shows substantial growth in viewership since those rankings were compiled. 

No. 1 was the Circle Network’s Opry Live broadcast of the weekly Grand Ole Opry radio show which scored a viewership count of 18.7 million for Q3. Now the show’s cumulative number of views is more than 50% higher than that, a sign that the event’s popularity has grown consistently through the year.

Among individual artists who are streaming regularly this year, Norah Jones topped the list with 6.9 million views in Q3, ranking second overall among the Top 50 on the chart. Currently, the total views of her weekly streams show growth of about 17% compared to the last quarterly recap.

Also set to make an impact on the year-end Livestreamers chart are artists and events that have made their first appearance this year since Q3. Four of them currently rank highly enough to land in the Top 10.

Innovative solutions for live performing in 2020 went beyond streaming, however, with drive-in concert opportunities realized as early as April in some locations. 

Since the mid-March shutdown began, outdoor drive-in shows have been performed by 103 entities – either solo artists, bands and comedians or an organized concert series with multiple shows or tours by multiple artists. Currently, 332 events have been reported at outdoor drive-in theaters or parking lot concert sites.

One of the most prominent series of concerts offered to fans was the “Drive-In Theater Tour Series” by Christian music live event company Awakening Events which accounts for 135 of those shows. Four separate U.S. tours were featured as part of the series this year. 

Both Casting Crowns and TobyMac headlined tours, while co-headliners Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman and Mac Powell led a third trek. A co-bill with Zach Williams and Big Daddy Weave was the fourth.

Another series of drive-in shows this year came from a German venue group, D.LIVE. 

The Düsseldorf company was the first to report live shows after the beginning of the shutdown, beginning with an April 24 concert featuring German rapper Alligatoah. The group produced a string of 30 concerts from April through July, all held at the drive-in venue Gottfried Schultz presents Autokino Düsseldorf.