This year, the music industry has experienced one of the biggest shifts in its existence. Online music events have seen an increased demand among music fans this year. Creating an online event can be a simple process, and all you need is mastering a handful of skills to help you manage all the preparation phases of an online event.
And once you can put on a quality event, not only can you entertain and grow your fanbase, you can actually profit off ticket sales just like with a regular live gig. Ticketed online concerts can become yet another handy tool in your set of ways to make money on music online.
Picking the topic
Deciding on the theme, program, and playlist of your online event is the vital first step to creating a quality event that will be worth your audience’s time and help sell show tickets. Your show theme and program will provide you with the key selling point of your event, so consider your audience’s preferences, the timing of your show, as well as your event providing a unique, once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Choosing the platform
You can stream your show on Facebook or YouTube, but it’s best to find a place where you can ticket fans and not just stream. One of the places that offers video streaming and ticketing functionality — which is the place where I work — is Show4me.
The platform allows to stream a concert and offer tickets both prior and during the event. Moreover, you can keep developing your fanbase there even after the show, run several online shows, all while using the platform’s other music monetization points, like, music sales, tipping, and fan subscriptions, to buff the income from your music.
Calculating ticket prices
To make sure your event is profitable, start your planning by estimating the show budget. That’s your baseline to start figuring out how much individual show tickets should cost.
If you want every ticket to have the same price, add show budget and your desired profit and divide them by the expected show attendance (for an online show, a musician’s average number of likes per social media post is often approximately the number of attendees they can expect).
To up the profits off your show, offer several ticket tiers — from simple admission to bundled tickets, e.g. admission + merch, admission + music lesson, admission + shoutout, etc. This way, fans who want and can pay more, will go for more expensive options to get more out of your event.
Setting up stage, sound, and video
The thoroughness of your technical preparations can make or break the event. Make sure your stage design and costumes look good in your stream and that your camera quality translates through the screen.
Do a few dry runs and at least one dress rehearsal to iron out any kinks you might encounter. Use Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) and a mixer with all of your instruments and mics to ensure high quality sound for your online show.
Show promotion
Marketing your online event does not have to be expensive, but sending out an email blast to your fans and putting up a few posts and stories on your social media are a must.
It takes about two weeks to promote an online concert, so plan the time in your calendar and make sure your upcoming event is the only news you are talking about to your fans in this time — if you saturate the feed with posts that are not related to your show, fans will not pay as much attention to the show and not feel like it’s important enough to seek it out.
Final points
Keep tabs on all the nuts and bolts of your online event production with this online show checklist I developed after watching numerous online events and trying to figure out what ingredients make them tick.
And finally, take any mishaps you experience in the process in stride — practice makes perfect, so try it out until you get it right!
