One thing about music artists and their managers - they are a resourceful bunch when the chips are down. During the last year the chips have never been lower because of the lack of touring income thanks to the pandemic. That meant that artists and the music tech industry that serves them had to become more creative, and livestreaming became a new revenue source as a result. The problem is, unless you were BTS, you probably weren’t cleaning up from the new medium or even turning a profit. While the touring industry seems to be dipping its collective toe in the water again (see the photo above of the recent experimental concert in Barcelona), there is still one revenue area that I think has been overlooked - Virtual Meet And Greets.
Considering that fans will pay up to $25k for the privilege of meeting their favorite major artist backstage before or after a show (although the average is usually around $2,000), you’d think that some enterprising manager or promoter would have proposed the virtual meet and greet by now.
OnlyFans does seem to have figured this one out, although the focus there wasn’t so much on music until Cardi B got involved. Although no one knows for sure, it’s been estimated that she’s bringing in a cool $8 million per month on the platform, although that’s just an estimate based on her social following.
How much do you think a private or even small group Zoom meeting with your favorite star is worth? Now the problem here is scaling, but when you’re not bringing in money from touring, this still could have been one of the major money makers of the last year. Again - I wonder why no one has tried this yet?
Certainly all the tools are there to do a virtual meet and greet on Facebook or YouTube at scale, but a private M&G via Zoom that would also provide a recording afterwards might be viewed as a well-worthwhile once in a lifetime spend for a mega-fan.
And we’ve seen how much people want to interact with stars from everyday engagements on social media and, more recently, Clubhouse. Although the app is still invite only and iOS-centric, it’s been shown to be a huge hit when the likes of Elon Musk or Bill Gates show up for a chat. That could just as easily be Taylor Swift or Bono in a private room, should the platform ever opt to monetize its elements.
The fact of the matter is that as we move into a mature streaming world, the music industry no longer totally revolves around record labels and touring when it comes to generating cash flow. Artists are finding new ways to expand their brands and monetize their work and celebrity online (I’m thinking of you, NFTs). As Marc Geiger recently stated in an article on future monetization on Music:)ally, “I know people are selling their WhatsApp number for $1,000. This is part of the suite of digital products to come.”
Pay-to-chat is only the next step. Sometimes the most obvious is the one that’s also overlooked.
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April 04, 2021 at 10:00PM
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Are Virtual Meet And Greets The Next Artist Money Maker? - Forbes
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