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UK Promoter Crosstown Concerts Sells 8,200 Tickets For Bellowhead Stream
Courtesy of Crosstown Concerts – Scene from the Bellowhead performance.
The broadcast took place Dec. 5, and was available for 30 days on-demand, in case you had the premium ticket.
Utilizing live performance platform Stabal, UK promoter Crosstown Concerts sold 8,200 tickets for a performance by English folk act Bellowhead, grossing £175,000 ($238,000) in the process.
70% of ticket buyers chose a higher-priced tickets that gives them 30-day on-demand access to the performance, which was broadcast on Dec. 5.
Crosstown Concerts director Conal Dodds, said his team “decided from the outset not to offer ‘live’ live-streams, having seen so many beset with broadcast problems.
“We decided to record an artist over the course of a day, which makes the artist relaxed and we can concentrate on creating the very best audio and video experience for viewers.”
With the return to full-capacity shows still fraught with uncertainty, Crosstown Concerts wanted to find an alternative platform for our artists.
– Crosstown Concerts’ co-founders:
Paul Hutton, Conal Dodds and Fraser Duffin.
“Our search to find the very best broadcast solution for our artists led us to Epping Forest-based broadcast platform Stabal,” Dodds explained, adding, “After several online meetings and lots of negotiations, we entered a partnership. Their whole team are super friendly and professional, sharing with us a desire to produce the highest quality events.”
Dodds believes this collaboration solves “all of the issues artists have encountered broadcasting concerts, as we can handle all the aspects required between us. We cover all the costs, handle all marketing, ticketing, rights and publishing clearances, with audio-visual recording produced to a world class standard.”
Stabal’s in-house team captures, edits and produces the creative content, and releases it through its own online platform for a worldwide audience in 150 countries, which can experience the content – live online concerts, performances, interviews, masterclasses and film – as pay-per-view and on-demand.
Given the recent discussions around licensing concert streams, Pollstar wanted to know, how Crosstown and Stabal were able to sell content in 150 countries.
Steve Odart, CEO of Stabal, responded: “Stabal have their own licensing and royalty team and have been focussed on ensuring that all rightsholders are paid on every ticket sale, from day one.
“We pay out performance licenses via a blanket agreement with PRS for Music, and clear sync license deals on all global revenue for all songs performed, with all relevant publishers/rights holders ahead of the broadcast. Stabal’s royalty team then distribute the sync license royalty payments on a quarterly basis.”
He continued, “When we set up Stabal back in 2019, we had a clear focus on ensuring that any revenue generated from our platform should be fairly distributed for both songwriters as well as artists, which is why we have invested in so much infrastructure to cater for this, and have excellent relationships with the majority of the major publishing catalogue owners.”
– Stabal offers 30 days of on-deman access to its content for premium ticket holders.
The next Crosstown promoted concert on sale is by Seth Lakeman on Feb.27.
The fact that performances are pre-recorded gives Stabal the opportunity to post-edit the recordings, and get the artists approval of the final cut.
It also means they can film extra behind-the-scenes content, including interviews, bonus tracks etc., for inclusion in the premium 30-day-pass option.
In fact, a lot of the ticket sales for the Bellowhead performance were made after the initial broadcast date, when sales rose by 500 to 8,700 within the next two weeks.
A “gifting service” also proved popular, allowing tickets to be bought as presents.
Said Odart, “When I first met with Conal and [co-founder] Paul [Hutton] in early 2020, it was clear that we carried the same attitude to doing business. Crosstown were promoting life-affirming concerts at a fair price, and their track record of success in the bricks and mortar promotion world was clearly evident.
“Stabal carries the same DNA, with our focus being firmly in the digital space. It was a very logical partnership. We have crafted a well thought through, end-to-end offering and strategy to deliver the very best online concert offering to the music industry, building an outstanding commercial offering that works for all key stakeholders; labels, publishers, management, artist, and PRO’s.”
In Q1 2021, the Stabal platform will be available across Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire and Roku, according to Odart, whose team is adding a production hub in Australia to complement the existing U.K. and U.S. production teams.
Dodds said, Crosstown Concert was currently negotiating with multiple international artists for more concerts hosted on Stabal in the coming year. The promoter is already on sale with tickets for a concert by Seth Lakeman, Feb.27.