(Case Study) SpotLight: To Electrify the Current Live Streaming Performance Experience
By: Andrew Kirima
Tags: New Normal, Twitch, Case Study, Live Streaming, Extended Reality

Monetization

To keep the platform afloat there will be a range of selective advertising opportunities for musicians and music groups. Users will have the opportunity to sign up under a freemium model in which they choose between a free or premium account. The premium account will offer exclusive features such as “Meet the Musician” or “Multi-Stream Access.”

Musicians will be able to make a living through a SpotLight Paid Partner Program in which they collect a percentage of premium viewers' membership fees. Their payout will be deciphered through a variety of cases such as the # of paid viewers, how long viewers stay engaged, performance ratings, etc.

Metrics

The success of the platform will be measure through standard Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) such as:

Conversion Rate (%): Percentage of users who go from a guest to a free account and finally to a premium account.

Percentage of users who go from a guest to a free account and finally to a premium account. User Retention Rate (%): Percentage of users who return after their first performance.

Percentage of users who return after their first performance. User Engagement (#): The number of users and time spent on the platform in accordance with Daily Active Users (DAU), Weekly Active Users (WAU), and Monthly Active Users (MAU).

Research & Methodology

‌Our Process

From‌ ‌beginning‌ ‌to‌ ‌‌ ‌end,‌ ‌we‌ ‌followed‌ ‌an‌ ‌iterative‌ ‌process‌ ‌of‌ ‌product‌ ‌development‌ ‌leveraging‌ ‌rigorous‌ ‌market‌ ‌and‌ ‌user‌ ‌research.‌ ‌Preliminarily,‌ ‌we‌ ‌conducted‌ ‌1:1‌ ‌user‌ ‌interviews‌ ‌with‌ ‌musicians‌ ‌and‌ ‌fans‌ ‌to‌ ‌understand‌ ‌how‌ ‌they’ve‌ ‌been‌ ‌impacted‌ ‌by‌ ‌the‌ ‌pandemic.‌ ‌From‌ ‌there‌ ‌we‌ ‌built‌ ‌a‌ ‌survey‌ ‌assessing‌ ‌musicians’‌ ‌pandemic‌ ‌experience,‌ ‌and‌ ‌sent‌ ‌it‌ ‌out‌ ‌to‌ ‌20+‌ ‌different‌ ‌social‌ ‌media‌ ‌groups‌ ‌to‌ ‌achieve‌ ‌a‌ ‌sample‌ ‌representative‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌musician‌ ‌community.‌ ‌

In‌ ‌addition,‌ ‌we‌ ‌posted‌ ‌3‌ ‌Reddit discussion forums‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌“Musicians”‌ ‌subreddit‌ ‌and‌ ‌15‌ ‌1:1‌ ‌user‌ ‌interviews‌ ‌with‌ ‌an‌ ‌even‌ ‌distribution‌ ‌of‌ ‌fans‌ ‌and‌ ‌musicians.‌ ‌From‌ there‌ ‌we‌ ‌leveraged‌ ‌our‌ ‌qualitative‌ ‌and‌ ‌quantitative‌ ‌insights‌ ‌to‌ ‌hone‌ ‌in‌ ‌our‌ ‌target‌ ‌user‌ ‌groups,‌ ‌disseminated‌ ‌their‌ ‌overlapping‌ ‌needs,‌ ‌isolate‌ ‌their‌ ‌most‌ ‌poignant‌ ‌problems,‌ ‌and‌ ‌iteratively‌ ‌validate‌ ‌the‌ ‌relevance‌ ‌of‌ ‌our‌ ‌problem‌ statement‌ ‌through‌ ‌more‌ ‌1:1‌ ‌interviews.‌ ‌

Once‌ ‌we‌ ‌sufficiently‌ ‌validated‌ ‌the‌ ‌problem,‌ ‌we‌ ‌ideated‌ ‌several‌ ‌solutions‌ ‌that‌ ‌aligned‌ ‌with‌ ‌our‌ ‌problem‌ ‌statement‌ ‌and‌ ‌consulted‌ ‌our‌ ‌target‌ ‌users‌ ‌to‌ ‌validate‌ ‌our‌ ‌solution‌ ‌and‌ ‌fine-tune‌ ‌it‌ ‌to‌ ‌align‌ ‌with‌ ‌their‌ ‌needs.‌ ‌ ‌

User Research

The‌ ‌most‌ ‌used‌ ‌live-stream‌ ‌platforms‌ ‌used‌ ‌by‌ ‌musicians‌ ‌varies‌ ‌by‌ ‌type‌ ‌of‌ ‌musician‌ ‌and‌ ‌their‌ ‌needs.‌ ‌Since‌ ‌we’re‌ ‌focusing‌ ‌on‌ ‌independent‌ ‌musicians‌ ‌who‌ ‌don’t‌ ‌have‌ ‌a‌ ‌substantial‌ ‌social‌ ‌media‌ ‌following,‌ ‌we’ll‌ ‌look‌ ‌at‌ ‌the‌ ‌live-streaming‌ ‌platforms‌ ‌they‌ ‌use,‌ ‌based‌ ‌on‌ ‌our‌ ‌independent‌ ‌user‌ ‌research.‌ ‌

Our‌ ‌survey‌‌ ‌‌showed‌ ‌independent‌ ‌musicians‌ ‌comprised‌ ‌63.6%‌ ‌of‌ ‌our‌ ‌total‌ ‌user‌ ‌survey‌ ‌respondents.‌ ‌ ‌

‌The‌ ‌2‌ ‌most‌ ‌popular‌ ‌live-streaming‌ ‌platforms‌ ‌that‌ ‌independent‌ ‌musicians‌ ‌have‌ ‌leaned‌ ‌on‌ ‌during‌ ‌the‌ ‌pandemic‌ ‌are‌ ‌Twitch‌ ‌and‌ ‌Instagram‌ ‌Live.‌ ‌However,‌ ‌there‌ ‌are‌ ‌a‌ ‌plethora‌ ‌of‌ ‌live-streaming‌ ‌platforms,‌ ‌from‌ ‌titans‌ ‌like‌ ‌Facebook‌ ‌Live‌ ‌and‌ ‌Youtube‌ ‌Live‌ ‌to‌ ‌platforms‌,‌ ‌albeit‌ ‌are less popular ‌amongst‌ ‌musicians‌ ‌‌ but have‌ ‌also‌ ‌gained‌ ‌some‌ ‌measurable‌ ‌traction‌ ‌during‌ ‌the‌ ‌pandemic.‌

‌Overall,‌ ‌independent‌ ‌musicians‌ ‌rated‌ ‌their‌ ‌current‌ ‌live-streaming‌ ‌performance‌ ‌experience‌ ‌a‌ ‌2.43‌ ‌(where 1: ‌not‌ ‌satisfied‌ ‌at‌ ‌all‌ ‌to‌ ‌5:‌ ‌very‌ ‌satisfied).‌ ‌ ‌

Market Assessment

After engaging in a thorough analysis of the market it was clear that live-streaming isn’t going away, even after the pandemic is stabilized & all state-mandated restrictions are lifted.

According to Conviva, by analyzing 1.5 trillion real-time transactions representing 500 million viewers in more than 180 countries., “live video viewing grew by 93% year over year, with an average viewing time of 26.4 minutes per session.”

The gig economy’s deprivation from the pandemic is exactly the push that the live-streaming music industry needed. Before the pandemic, there were distinct issues that disabled the possibility of creating a robust live-streaming platform that held enough quality to keep fans engaged‌. People were always willing to view a live streaming performance but not weren’t willing to pay if the video + audio quality is poor.

Competitor Analysis

‌Understanding‌ ‌the‌ ‌User‌ ‌

Our‌ ‌user‌ ‌base‌ ‌can‌ ‌be‌ ‌overarchingly‌ ‌segmented‌ ‌into‌ ‌‌2‌ ‌categories:‌ ‌musicians‌ ‌and‌ ‌fans‌ with lower-tier independent musicians being the most ‌impacted, in the music industry,‌ ‌by‌ ‌COVID-19.‌ ‌As‌ lower-tier ‌independent‌ ‌musicians‌ ‌are‌ ‌essentially‌ ‌the‌ ‌lowest‌ ‌common‌ ‌denominator‌ ‌of‌ ‌musicians‌ ‌at‌ ‌large,‌ ‌their‌ ‌pain‌ ‌points‌ ‌naturally‌ ‌overlap‌ ‌with‌ full-time‌ ‌& ‌part-time‌ ‌independent‌ ‌musicians‌ who are striving to make a living from music.‌

By‌ ‌solving‌ ‌for‌ ‌independent‌ ‌artists’‌ ‌pain‌ ‌points we tangentially have to solve the pain points of their fans. ‌‌We‌ ‌thus‌ ‌prioritize‌ lower-tier ‌professional‌ ‌independent‌ ‌artists‌ ‌and‌ ‌fans‌ ‌as‌ ‌our‌ ‌target‌ ‌user‌ ‌base.‌ ‌ ‌

User Persona 1: Full-Time DJ

User Persona 2: Fan

User Persona‌ ‌3‌: Part-Time Saxophonist

The Future

Below is a list of features that would be implemented in later iterations of SpotLight.

Concerts‌ ‌delivered‌ ‌to‌ ‌you,‌ ‌at‌ ‌home:‌‌ ‌Optimize‌ ‌the‌ ‌immersive‌ ‌experience‌ ‌by‌ ‌providing‌ ‌a‌ ‌3D‌ ‌digital‌ ‌concert‌ ‌with‌ ‌XR‌ ‌(extended‌ ‌reality).‌ Would be able to ‌rent‌ ‌XR‌ ‌equipment‌ ‌from‌ ‌the‌ ‌platform‌ ‌if‌ ‌you‌ ‌have‌ ‌a‌ ‌paid‌ ‌account.‌ ‌ Pre-concert‌ ‌experience‌:‌ ‌Lobbies‌ ‌to‌ ‌connect‌ ‌with‌ ‌other‌ ‌fans‌ ‌while‌ ‌you‌ ‌wait‌ ‌for‌ ‌the‌ ‌artist‌ ‌to‌ ‌come‌ ‌on,‌ ‌complete‌ ‌with‌ ‌a merch‌ ‌stand and ‌musicians’‌ ‌songs‌ ‌automatically‌ ‌streaming‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌lobby.‌ ‌ Performance‌ ‌Archive:‌‌ ‌Archiving‌ ‌live‌ ‌performances‌ ‌that‌ ‌musicians‌ ‌or‌ ‌fans‌ ‌can‌ ‌re-watch‌ ‌later.‌ ‌ Freedom‌ ‌of‌ ‌Play:‌‌ ‌Licensing‌ ‌agreements‌ ‌with‌ ‌the‌ ‌top‌ ‌music‌ ‌groups‌ ‌i.e.‌ ‌Universal‌ ‌Music‌ ‌Group,‌ ‌Warner‌ ‌Music‌ ‌Group,‌ ‌and‌ ‌Merlin‌ ‌Network‌ ‌so‌ ‌musicians‌ ‌don’t‌ ‌have‌ ‌to‌ ‌worry‌ ‌about‌ ‌copyright‌ ‌infringement‌ ‌during‌ ‌their‌ ‌live‌ ‌sets.‌

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