COVID-19: Bandsintown now offering artists quicker access to earnings

The service is targeted at musicians who are unable to perform live during coronavirus (COVID-19) quarantines.

Musicians registered with Bandsintown for Artists who have more than 2 000 followers on Bandsintown Concerts are eligible to apply for the Twitch Affiliate programme, through which they can fast-track their monetisation. Artists can also enable Bits to Cheer on their channels, which lets viewers offer support without leaving the platform.

The new feature could benefit a host of musicians around the world who are seeing their income disappearing, especially emerging artists whose livelihoods depend on live performances.

"Musicians and bands have been hit hard, so we are proud to offer them this new revenue opportunity," Bandsintown managing partner Fabrice Sergent said. "Like all Bandsintown for Artists services, the ability to directly message fans, alert them when artists go live and, now, to benefit from fast-tracking Twitch monetisation will be 100% free. We are all in this together."

Twitch vice-president head of music Mike Olson said: "Twitch continues to be a great place for artists to perform and connect with their fans live. "We're excited to partner with Bandsintown to provide artists not only the best live streaming experience but an opportunity for our community to support them with monetisation tools that aren't offered elsewhere."

SoundCloud has also partnered with Twitch on a deal that offers artists a similar service.

Bandsintown says it currently provides more than 530 000 registered artists with the ability to reach 55 million fans registered on its platform at no cost.

Musicians interested in fast-tracking their streaming monetisation potential can sign up or learn more about the opportunity here. A personal Twitch channel is required as well as an updated Bandsintown for Artists profile.

With the sudden shift to online platforms by musicians who are trying to salvage their livelihoods, Twitch has fast become the preferred platform for a number artists. Before the pandemic, Twitch was predominantly used for live streaming video games.

Last week, Bandsintown launched the WATCH LIVE channel on Twitch with a live performance featuring South African top DJ Black Coffee. The channel helps artists schedule live events on their preferred streaming platforms and promote them to their fans.