COVID-19: Role of Live Music in brands' lockdown content plan

No concerts? No clubs? No problem. Social Media Live has now become the medium for the music industry and a few other brands to keep the music alive.

Most parts of the economy are turning ramshackle, but content consumption is soaring at an all-time high, surpassing all previous records. Music remains a dominant genre and is thriving on social media, more specifically on Live.

A recent report released by Mindshare India and Vidooly shares that the average user now spends over 4 hours per day on social media platforms as compared to the previous 1.5 hours. Entertainment, Music & News are the top 3 genres based on content consumption. With Music remaining second-highest, after Entertainment.

While the consumption end remains high, the production end remains rather low due to the containment measures implemented.

But the music industry and more brands are aligning efforts, collaborating with artists, and even general users. They are rethinking content strategies, launching new properties or populating old ones with minimal content production and shot from home videos, and are also experimenting with new formats.

Distribution of these experiences remain dominant on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, with most of the focus subsisting on Instagram and Facebook Live to give a real-time experience to the viewers. Also using IGTV to some extent as few pieces exceed the 60 seconds limit that qualifies the video as a post.

While most of these branded experiences work with an objective to serve the consumption needs of the consumers, few are also initiatives to raise money for supporting relief funds. As several fragments of the music industry such as DJs, artists, production houses, and the ecosystem that supports Live Music has been hit, along with more groups of people in distress.

Also Read: COVID-19: Brands unlock the potential of social media activations

Budweiser India - BUDXHOME

BUDXHOME is a series of live virtual events hosted by Budweiser India in association with Mixmag, which spanned over 14 days featuring India's eminent DJs such as Anish Sood, Ankytrixx, Ana Lilia and more.

Along with being a source of entertainment and a dose of music for consumers, the brand is also donating 1.5 lakhs for every stream to the Indian Nightlife Collective to support the nightlife industry workers, that are currently at-risk financially and have taken a hit due to the pandemic.

Vh1 India - #Vh1Quarnatunes

#Vh1Quarnatunes is a series of Instagram Live sessions curated with a series of global & Indian music artists, traversing across genres. Featuring established artists such as the Alt-Pop duo, Oh Wonder; Hip-Hop artist, Naezy, and several more including up & coming artists from the Indian scene.

Bacardí - #HappyAtHome

Bacardí NH7 Weekender turned into an interactive virtual experience with the series called #HappyAtHome, a line-up of gigs and live performances.

The gigs were remotely performed by various artists from their homes and were live-streamed through TikTok and the Instagram page of NH7dotin. The performances are also available on IGTV.

Featured artists include a mix of global and native names such as Ritviz, Nucleya, FKJ, Sandunes, Mohini Dey, Chris Adler, Ambika Nayak, and many more from across genres. Along with live music, the series also showcased comedy performances and held Q&A sessions.

BookMyShow - #LiveFromHQ

The brand that customarily relies on outdoor entertainment has shifted its course and launched an online property in association with, and curated & produced by Big Bad Wolf Entertainment.

The series of online events feature thirty-minute performances by several artists showcased live on Instagram & Facebook and performed at home, with specific editions for music and several beats of entertainment.

'The Music Edition' ft. artists such as Indian Ocean, Dhvani Bhanushali, and Vir Das; 'The Comedy Edition' ft. Aakash Gupta, Aishwarya Mohanraj & more; 'The Spoken Word Edition' ft. Kubbra Sait, Adil Hussain, & more.

JioSaavn - Live Anywhere | #GlobalPopUp

Live Anywhere launched in collaboration with Dolby, is a series of performances streamed on Facebook Live using the Dolby On app, featuring several up & coming artists such as Taba Chake, a Singer-songwriter and a fingerstyle guitar player, and Nikhita Gandhi, Singer of Raabta, and more.

JioSaavn also associated with Product of Culture, a culture-impact platform that empowers South Asian creatives and artists to grow and thrive globally.

The association was apart of the event - #GlobalPopUp, a Summit created to collaborate and improve the reach and strength of brands and projects of the creatives. The Instagram Live sessions featured artists such as Ankur Tewari, Raghav, and more.

Sony Music India - House Party Nights | #DistanSing

Sony Music India has a line-up of DJs set for your House Party Nights featuring various artists such as DJ Suketu, DJ Paroma, and DJ Shilpi Sharma.

In association with Tuborg Open, Sony Music India launched #DistanSing, an edition of virtual performances where artists such as Benny Dayal and Shalmali perform from their homes and give a new take on popular songs.

Radio City India - #ConcertFromHome | #LockdownRishtey

India's first private FM radio station has launched several content properties such as #ConcertFromHome, a Facebook Live series hosted in association with Virtual Planet, with a line-up of artists such as Rajnigandha Shekhawat, Daler Mehndi, Salim Merchant, Mika Singh, and Aastha Gill.

They are also hosting Instagram Live sessions - #LiveWithRadioCity, hosted by in-house RJs, featuring several personalities ranging from actors, musicians, and singers.

The Radio City original - #LockdownRishtey is a series of short narratives in the digital audio format with minimal animation, describing life during the lockdown.

Red FM - Red FM Hangout | Poet Tree | #TheCareConcert

Red FM Hangout are live music sessions featuring artists such as Alobo Nagaa and more, streamed on Red FM India pages on Facebook and Instagram.

The Care Concert was streamed across Facebook & YouTube pages of T-Series & Red FM and was an initiative to drive donations supporting the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The digital concert was launched in association with T-Series featuring a line-up of artists such as Adnan Sami, Asees Kaur, Neha Kakkar, Yo Yo Honey Singh, and more.

Poet Tree is a string of spoken poetry sessions, with poems written and recited by RJ Sachin Sahani in Urban Hindi, a mix of Hindi, Urdu, and English.

Saregama India - #StayHome

Saregama India keeps the retro mood alive with the curations of #StayHome playlists of evergreen songs of actors and artists ranging from Raj Kapoor, Mukesh, and Asha Parekh presented on YouTube.

India's oldest music label is also hosting Instagram Live sessions featuring artists such as Javed Ali, and Shilpa Rao to keep the music sensations running.

Dolby India - Lockdown Gigs

Lockdown Gigs are a series of live performances by independent artists such as Hanita Bhambri, Samar Mehdi, and Nikhil D’Souza.

The series is created and curated to support music artists(all proceeds go to them) and the Indie scene. The gigs were recorded on DolbyON – a music and video recording app that also allows users to live stream to audiences.

Sunfeast Mom's Magic - #StayStrongMoms

#StayStrongMoms is a series of concerts streamed on Instagram Live, featuring Padma Shri awardees such as Usha Uthup, Kavita Krishnamurti, and more and more artists.

Launched in relevance to their brand image, the series is a way of cherishing Moms across the country, the homemakers without whom there wouldn't be a home to stay safe in.

The brand also crowdsourced content by asking users to shoot a video of their family singing their favorite song and upload it using the hashtag #MomsMagicConcert and tagging the brand, the best entries would be featured in the concert.

If we have missed out on any of your favorite branded experiences keeping the music alive through social media Live, write to us at content@socialsamosa.com or let us know in the comments below.