Photo Credit: Heshan Perera
Days after Warner Music Group announced that it had invested in virtual-concert platform Wave, Deezer has backed Dreamstage, “a U.S.-based live music streaming startup.”
Paris-headquartered Deezer – which, like Warner Music Group, belongs to Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries – detailed the Dreamstage investment in an announcement message today. The financial terms of the transaction weren’t publicly disclosed.
But according to Deezer’s announcement, the capital will enable Dreamstage (which has hosted north of 50 shows to date and is led by former Sony Music exec Thomas Hesse) “to significantly speed up growth and expand its operations.” Included in said expansion are plans to “accelerate the roll-out” of Dreamstage, which offered fans a performance from Yo-Yo Ma to kick off May.
Furthermore, Dreamstage is “set up for the long term” and intends to spearhead “simulcast streaming opportunities for in-person concerts when live gigs start again,” per the text. With regard to the companies’ professional relationship, Dreamstage and Deezer “will work closely together to find synergies and opportunities for co-promotion” – a particularly interesting point, given the streaming service’s far-reaching international presence.
Addressing the backing that his company received from Deezer, Dreamstage CEO Thomas Hesse said in part: “We are excited to join forces with Deezer who share our vision to innovate and capture this massive new opportunity. Together, we will nurture and propagate the emerging Live Music Video format, and help artists grow and delight virtual audiences everywhere.”
More than a few other companies and professionals have also invested in livestream platforms (including Moment House and Mandolin, to name just some) amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and interestingly, these parties have emphasized that they’ll continue to try and reach new fans even as crowd-based live entertainment returns.
Live Nation’s Veeps, for instance, recently installed livestream equipment at over 60 well-known venues, with the intention of streaming traditional performances to fans around the world. And in terms of the other Big Three record labels’ livestream plays, Sony Music (along with NetEase and Twitch cofounder Kevin Lin) participated in livestream-monetization platform Maestro’s $15 million funding round in early March.
Lastly, Universal Music Group – which Vivendi is preparing to take public sometime in 2021 – partnered with BTS agency Hybe (formerly Big Hit Entertainment) to launch a different livestream platform yet, VenewLive.
Deezer in late April debuted a partnership with Netflix competitor Globo to offer consumers a bundled-subscription option, besides rolling out an embeddable “widget player” this week. The latter tool enables individuals to share tracks, albums, and even podcasts on websites.