Christopher BarrettConcert promoter Crosstown Concerts made a successful first step into the concert streaming space, just two months after receiving £213,000 from the Government’s Cultural Recovery Fund. It is now creating a production hub in Australia to add to its UK and US-based production teams.
The company said its first online concert, featuring English folk act Bellowhead (pictured) on 5 December, sold 8,200 tickets. It followed that up with a streamed performance by Irish singer Damien Dempsey on 23 December, and tickets are on sale for Seth Lakeman on 27 February.
The Bellowhead show was streamed in partnership with Epping Forest-based broadcast platform Stabal. It was the first time the band had performed live together in four-and-a-half years. Crosstown said 70% of ticket buyers selected the higher value option of a 30-day video-on-demand pass.
Crosstown Concerts was founded by Paul Hutton and Conal Dodds in 2016 after the duo left Metropolis Music. It has offices in Bristol and London. As well as promoting concerts its stages major outdoor events including the 60,000-capacity Downs Festival in Bristol, Bristol Sounds (20,000) and OnBlackheath (25,000) in London.
Dodds said that the decision was made not to live-streams performances having seen many beset with broadcast problems: “We decided to record an artist over the course of a day, which makes the artist relaxed and we can concentrate on creating the very best audio and video experience for viewers.”
He added, “I believe this collaboration between Stabal and Crosstown solves all of the issues artists have encountered broadcasting concerts, as we can handle all the aspects required between us. We cover all the costs, handle all marketing, ticketing, rights and publishing clearances, with audio-visual recording produced to a world-class standard.
“2021 is a very exciting year for our partnership. In Q1 2021 we are expanding the Stabal platform across Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire and Roku to provide an even more extensive TV viewing experience.”