Update: Shawn Gee's BlackStream Live Network Unveils Programming

– Shawn Gee

Update 2/25

BlackStream Live Network has released its initial slate of programming as it prepares to launch on Feb. 26.

The initial programming schedule includes:

– “Go DJ,” a weekly series of Black DJ sets curated and produced by Questlove, Dawn White and You and Me., Inc.

– “Broccoli City Presents As The World Spins,” a talk show from the founder of Broccoli City Music Festival

– “Sunday School,” a gospel show produced by Kirk Franklin and Ron Hill

– “HBCU Untitled,” which focuses on the HBCU experience

– “The Souls of Black Folk,” an exploration of the state of Black life hosted by Live Nation’s Brandon Pankey

– “Road to Roots Picnic,” which is hosted by Masego and executive produced by Tina Farris, who appeared on a Pollstar Live! roundtable today.

A full schedule of programming is available at the service’s website.

Original Story:

Shawn Gee is launching a new livestreaming service called BlackStream Live in partnership with Twitch on Feb. 26.

The network will feature livestreaming concerts, podcasts, jam sessions, conversations and other content from Black creators.

“BlackStream Live started as a kernel of an idea during the early days of the Pandemic as my business partners—Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson and Tarik Trotter of The Roots—and I were building and delivering content across a variety of digital platforms,” Gee said in a statement. “We quickly realized the importance of what we called the new streaming economy and saw the infectious engagement behavior of the audience. However, the two issues we constantly faced were monetization and ownership. We needed to find the proper method to fund and monetize our ideas in order to be able to scale, turn a profit, and maintain an equity stake in the creative IP we were incubating. My partnership with Twitch allows us to support black creators up front with capital and ultimately partner with them in the ownership of the ideas. As the IP scales, all parties benefit.”

Shawn Gee is also the president of Live Nation Urban and runs Maverick, managing clients like the Roots and Jill Scott. He was named to Pollstar’s Impact 50 list for two years in a row and spoke to Pollstar in June about The Roots Picnic going digital.

Michael Olson, SVP at Twitch, was also named to Pollstar’s Impact 50 last year, and the streaming giant has been a key player in the fast-developing livestream scene.

Viewers can pre-subscribe to BlackStream Live through the service’s website and a programming schedule is being promised soon.