Episode 64: To Stream or Not to Stream

What a year this has been. At a time when live music is needed more than ever, we’ve had to put it on hold and watch musicians perform almost exclusively on our screens. There is some good news though as we wrap up 2020. Through the tireless efforts of NIVA (the national independent venue association) and NITO (the national independent talent organization), as well as several other arts organizations, our community has rallied together and witnessed the passing of the Save Our Stages act.

The bill provides 15 billion dollars in direct funding to venues, agencies, and other arts organizations and is a much needed lifeline at this point in time. You can visit SaveOurStages.com for more information on how this might apply to you. Thank you to everyone who took the time to write their congressmen and women these past several months. It truly paid off.

Today’s episode continues our discussion on best practices for live streaming. My guests are Nicholas Milos and Chad Hilligus. Nicholas is currently the general manager of the Luckman Fine Arts Complex in Los Angeles, where he oversees production of all of their live music events. Chad is currently the executive and artistic director of Performance Santa Fe. Our conversation goes in depth into how each organization has had to pivot to both producing live streaming events and also producing new content to serve as future virtual events. We talk about what is working and not working for them, how to think about exclusivity in the world of streaming, whether or not streaming has a place in the future once we can do events in person again, and what new opportunities might arise as a result of the new Save our Stages act.

I want to thank all of our listeners and I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year. Here’s to 2021. Stay safe and take care.