Enjoy this message with tips on live streaming shows from Melissa, a member of the Mile Team and passionate music fan!
Attending live music shows is my passion. Typically, I will attend live shows 5-7 nights per week. Local shows throughout the Fox Cities, shows in Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago – wherever the multitude of great local, state and national musicians take me for their show. We are so lucky to have so many great musicians, shows and venues right here in Appleton and the Fox Cities.
Much of my weekly evening schedule is filled by these great shows: Tuesday night means pizza, friends, and the great music at Stone Arch Tap Room. Wednesday nights at Riverview Gardens for Rhythm & Brews, or at Red Lion Hotel Paper Valley’s Courtyard for sunshine and the fantastic local and traveling musicians. The third Thursdays of each month find me at 91.1 The Avenue’s August Haven Live. Weekends bring rich opportunities for live music at many of the great area venues: Gibson Community Music Hall, OuterEdge Stage, The Bent Keg, Deja Vu, Fox River House, Copper Rock Coffee Company, 313 Dodge, Calmes Pub to name a few.
March 17, 2020 brought us all a global pandemic driven quarantine and the opportunity to work together by staying apart. Needless to say, it brought many of our standard routines to an abrupt halt. My nightly live music schedule has transitioned into nightly live streaming.
There are many live stream shows available on many different platforms. You can take in as many (like the hundreds I have seen since March 18) or as few as you wish. Like Mile of Music, there is no wrong way to do it! You can do a bunch of research finding shows and make yourself a schedule, you can follow a few of your favorite artists and watch when they stream, you can decide on a live stream night and see what shows are available that night or whatever works best for you.
There are a variety of platforms that artists live stream their music to: Facebook Live, Instagram Live, YouTube, Twitch, StageIt, and Patreon are all platforms I’ve streamed shows on in the last 6 weeks. Artists provide links to their chosen platform with their show date and time information. Be sure to note the time zone and make any necessary adjustments. My ‘time zone math’ has improved greatly over the quarantine (Google is your friend for time zone math assistance).
A few words about each of the various platforms:
Facebook Live is widely used and easily accessible. Streams seem to work equally well on phones and computers.
Instagram Live is a bit less widely used than Facebook Live, but I have found it to have a bit better sound overall. The catch is, Instagram Live video streams on phones only (will not stream on computers).
YouTube is the video platform that has been around the longest, and is perhaps the platform people are most comfortable with. Sometimes artists will stream to both Facebook Live or Instagram Live and YouTube, so you may choose the platform you prefer.
-Melissa
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