Has Amazon Just Hijacked The Future Of Live Concerts?

Amazon recently announced a surprising addition to its Prime subscription service in the form of a series of live music events, with tickets available exclusively to paying members. With initial concerts in the U.K. featuring acts such as Blondie, Alison Moyet and Texas — is it possible that Amazon blazing a new trail for the future of live music?

As some components of the music industry struggle to remain relevant in the face of declining physical medium sales and the growth of streaming platforms, concerts have become the primary earning method for the majority of artists. In fact, the Wall Street Journal reports that concert revenues in North America increased by a third between 2011 and 2015, and this rise shows no signs of slowing down. Information from Statista indicates that live music industry revenue is forecast to grow from approximately 9 billion U.S. dollars in 2015 to more than 11 billion U.S. dollars in 2020.

Clearly, live music is continuing to thrive, and Amazon’s new series is a provocate move that carries the potential to gain significant traction. One of the key advantages for music fans over traditional concerts is being able to see famous artists in more intimate venues, with capacities in the 600–800 range instead of many thousands. Seeing your favorite band in a small space is definitely an exciting prospect for many people, and this aspect of Amazon’s series may be one of the keys to its potential for success. At the same time, the concept has certain limitations, at least at this point, as there are only a modest number of concerts available, while it’s difficult to know whether a significant percentage of artists will want to take part in this type of initiative.

Will other industry players and music fans adopt this model in the future? Statistics show that there is a massive overlap between streaming and concerts, with 45 percent of live music fans also being users of streaming services. Amazon’s Prime Live Events may prove to be the catalyst for a new on-demand/subscription approach to live music. The company is certainly well-positioned to take the lead in this space, as 28 percent of U.K. live music fans are also Amazon Prime subscribers. Additionally, the concert series will be made available internationally on Amazon Prime Video, thereby allowing the company to connect its diverse assets throughout the world.

If Amazon’s concert series picks up steam, it’s very likely that we’ll see technology trends being integrated into the concept as other players get involved. Imagine the potential for virtual reality, augmented reality and 360-degree video, with service subscribers gaining access to enhanced versions of exclusive concerts and allowing them to be immersed in the experience in unprecedented and innovative manners. The possibilities are exciting, as Amazon’s initiative may lead the way to a transformation of the concert industry.

What do you think about the technologies that are shaping the future of the music industry and experience? Feel free to reach out on LinkedIn @sbludov.

By Sergey Bludov,
SVP, Media & Entertainment at DataArt

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Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com on May 23, 2017.