Direct Live Audio/Video Capture Via App Is Untapped Market For Music Industry

While the traditional recording industry has struggled with digital disruption, the live music sector continues to thrive as a primary revenue driver for artists. Dean Graziano, CEO of Lively LLC, identifies a significant opportunity for the industry to monetize the fan habit of recording concerts through high-quality, direct-to-app audio and video captures. This emerging market segment leverages massive growth in mobile app usage to create new revenue streams for artists, labels, and venue operators.

The live music business has remained a resilient pillar of the music economy, even as the recording side has shrunk to less than half its pre-digital size. According to data from Live Nation, global concert revenue reached $3.87 billion in 2012, with more than 32 million people attending approximately 15,000 shows in North America. This robust attendance suggests a massive, captive audience that is already primed to consume content related to their live experiences, moving beyond traditional physical merchandise like T-shirts into the digital realm.

Current audience behavior shows a clear demand for concert memories, as fans have transitioned from holding up lighters to using smartphones to capture amateur-quality video and audio for social media. Graziano notes that YouTube is currently filled with these low-quality recordings, which still garner thousands of views from fans hungry for content. By offering a professional alternative through mobile apps, the industry can provide fans with high-quality, professional-grade recordings that allow them to relive the experience at their convenience while ensuring that artists and stakeholders are properly compensated.

The financial potential for this untapped market is substantial when considering current mobile trends. With app downloads in 2013 estimated between 56 and 82 billion and music app usage increasing by 530 percent year-over-year according to Flurry Analytics, the infrastructure for distribution is already in place. Graziano calculates that if only 25 percent of concert attendees purchased a live audio download for $4.99, the market could generate $40 million in incremental revenue. If those fans opted for $9.99 video content instead, the revenue would nearly double, representing a significant new segment within the $16.5 billion global music industry.