Powered by POM8: How Coachella Webcast Changed The World!
September 27, 2011 by Kevin Michael Gray
Pomegranate was recently hired to deliver the creative banner ads for YouTubes Coachella Live Streaming event. The event was watched by millions of viewers. Read more below:
If you didn't catch YouTube's streaming Webcast of the Coachella music festival last weekend, you missed a chance to see the music world changing before your eyes.
For three days, viewers were treated to live sets by superstars like Kanye West, the Strokes, Arcade Fire, Duran Duran, and nearly 60 other artists. At any given moment, they could choose from performances on three separate stages--each of which had its own channel with multiple high quality camera angles--and all with low lag, few technical glitches, and fairly unobtrusive advertising.
In short, if you couldn't be at Coachella, this was the next best thing. And it didn't cost a dime. Or require waiting in line in scorching Southern California desert heat for a porta-potty.
Over the three days, people from all over the world took advantage of the opportunity to see what the festival was like, viewing the stream nearly 4 million times. And almost certainly, thousands of those watching decided that they have to go in person next year, even as the bands that played no doubt picked up large numbers of new fans they would never before have been able to reach.
This wasn't the first time, of course, that a major music event has been live-streamed. YouTube and other services have for some time been Webcasting live music, including last year's Coachella and shows over the last couple of years by major acts like U2 and Arcade Fire, and festivals like Bonnaroo. But this was likely the most complex and sophisticated live concert stream ever and indeed, the 2011 Coachella Webcast may be the most visceral evidence yet that the democratization of music has arrived.
