Social media, not streaming is the music industry’s future in Botswana.
After the covid-19 pandemic hit, the way artists engage with audiences began to shift, showing potential new ways we may consume music. Without the ability to host live concerts, many artists have moved onto social media and other online media platforms to interact with their audience.
Instagram live videos allow artists to directly answer fans’ questions and talk about their music, whilst platforms like TikTok allow fans to ‘duet’ videos with their favourite artists. Artists in turn can even duet with fans, allowing greater levels of interaction
Notable examples of this include when Drake set the world viewing record for an Instagram Live at 310,000 in March 2020, whilst Dua Lipa’s Studio 2054 Album live stream sold 284,000 tickets prior to the event. Such examples highlight how social media platforms like Instagram have offered a new way for artists to promote music and, crucially, engage with fans
Twitch is also a place to look to for musicians as it offers many benefits to artists such as:
- • You can make money through twitch:
The money comes directly from the viewers. If you are good with talking to fans, open to playing requests and covers, and like playing live, people will have fun when they watch. When they have fun, they feel like they are a part of your community and that is when they will subscribe to your channel and donate money.Some of the monetization comes through Twitch’s channel subscriptions and virtual currency, which you must reach certain benchmarks to participate in, but a good portion of it can come through off-Twitch donations facilitated by companies like Streamlabs, which you can turn on from day one. You won’t earn ad revenue until you get partner status (which is difficult), and you won’t miss
- • The Music Category Isn’t Saturated:
Though music has nowhere near the audience size as games on Twitch, it’s big enough that there are viewers regularly watching their favorites and open to finding new talent. It’s not like YouTube where there are so many creators that it’s almost impossible to get noticed as a new artist. This is exactly when you want to join any platform. It’s that elusive “emerging platform” that all the marketing people tell you to get on early. Music on Twitch is big enough for a creator to build an audience with reasonable effort and as the music category grows overall, you will grow with it.
- • Livestreaming is Easier to Do than You Think:
Livestreaming is just hanging out and talking to people and playing music. That’s it. It’s not perfect and filtered and edited like your social media posts. It should feel like you invited friends over for beers and music. Most full- or part-time streamers are live 3-5 days per week, 2-4 hours per session, so about 6-20 hours a week. The longer you’re on, the more fans you’ll make and the more money you’ll earn. Because you are hanging out and having fun, the time flies by. It’s the easiest content you’ll create all