A shot captured at Coachella 2015. Photo Credit: David Jones
YouTube, the longtime livestream partner of Goldenvoice-organized Coachella, is officially set to continue broadcasting the annual music festival through 2026.
The video-sharing giant and AEG-owned Goldenvoice unveiled the renewal of their longstanding agreement today. Coachella 2023, which has booked acts including Bad Bunny, Blackpink, and Frank Ocean, will mark the 11th installment of the Indio, California, event to air live on YouTube.
And with the involved companies having integrated merchandise into their tie-up last year, fans will enjoy “even more exclusive and enhanced access” to Coachella moving forward, YouTube and Goldenvoice communicated.
It remains to be seen whether “new elements” are on the way for Coachella 2023, which is scheduled to kick off on April 14th. In any event, the companies reiterated that they will complement the livestream with YouTube Shorts content, playlist integration on YouTube Music, more merchandise, “exclusive content for YouTube Premium subscribers,” and “onsite activations” from artists as well as creators.
In a statement, YouTube global head of music Lyor Cohen described the Coachella deal as an “absolute honor.” And in remarks of his own, Goldenvoice president Paul Tollett emphasized the deal’s perceived significance in terms of “bringing international fans closer to their hometown artists.”
Though the YouTube-Coachella union predates COVID-19, as noted, a multitude of livestream platforms and investments surfaced when crowd-based entertainment was shelved due to lockdown measures.
For obvious reasons, oversaturation and the ongoing return of traditional gigs chief among them, several of these services have since sold and/or shut down. (Different livestream offerings are nevertheless continuing to debut, it also bears highlighting.)
But the effects of the pandemic-prompted livestream pivot are still apparent, as many organizers, artists, venues, and companies are looking to unlock additional revenue streams by bringing performances to fans over the internet.
After acquiring Veeps in early 2021, Live Nation went ahead and equipped a number of its venues with livestream equipment; Veeps arrived on iOS, Android, Apple TV, and Roku TV last April. More recently, close to 50 million diehard supporters reportedly tuned in for BTS’ Busan show via WeVerse, and Disney+ invited fans to watch what was billed as Elton John’s “final North American concert.”
Also in 2022, Hulu became the official livestream partner of Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and Austin City Limits, whereas Life Is Beautiful aired live exclusively on Twitch and Amazon Prime, as SiriusXM livestreamed a Drake performance from the Apollo Theater.
Finally, Amazon Music is leaning hard into livestreaming, and in China’s quick-growing music market, reports suggested that a staggering 400 million individuals had used ByteDance’s Douyin to watch a livestream concert from actor and singer Andy Lau.