Is the creative work of music managers a multiplication factor?

<Table of Contents>
▼ I want to give back to those involved in music through "ideas"!
▼ VR, LED, Community. Streaming has helped music live events find many partners
▼ Music Gakari turns multiplication into stories!

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I want to give back to those involved in music through "ideas"!

As mentioned in our previous article, the birth of "DENTSU Ongakugakari ONLINE" (hereafter referred to as Ongakugakari), which provides music live streaming solutions, was spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic.

It started when music fans within Dentsu Inc. began sharing information out of a shared longing to attend live shows. However, the motivation to develop this into a business stemmed from the plight of the music industry, particularly the live entertainment sector.

According to PIA Research Institute, the 2020 live entertainment market size was estimated at ¥183.6 billion—a 70% decrease from the previous year.

Not only performers, but also organizers of live houses, halls, and festivals, along with the numerous staff who create these spaces, have lost their venues and suffered economic hardship. This is not a temporary situation; it continues into 2021.

Faced with this hardship, Ongakugakari operates on the belief that turning ideas into business and giving back to many people is the way to repay those who support music.

Therefore, we are pioneering various solutions at . This includes not only creating businesses and events around live music streaming, but also incorporating charity schemes depending on the challenge.

VR, LED, community. Through streaming, live music has found many partners.

2020 wasn't just a year where live events shifted to streaming; it was also a year where how they were presented evolved.

While the basic format of recording, broadcasting, and streaming live concerts remained, we saw various evolved forms: performances held in venues that couldn't normally accommodate large crowds, and shows enhanced with cinematic visual effects.

One live stream I watched featured lanterns lit in a forest at night. The intimate staging, allowing viewers to see popular artists up close within this fantastical landscape, struck me as a truly innovative idea only possible through streaming.

Music livestreaming also pairs well with technologies like VR and LED, allowing artists to experiment with diverse production techniques.

For example, live performances by artists were held within the online game "Fortnite." Globally, rapper Travis Scott's live show drew massive audiences, while in Japan, singer Kenshi Yonezu's performance became a major talking point.

Additionally, new ways to enjoy music live streaming are emerging through technological collaborations, such as the Shibuya Ward-approved "Virtual Shibuya" becoming a VR live venue.

However, the "music × streaming" model doesn't always rely on cutting-edge technology. For instance, during periods of self-restraint, many artists used social media streaming to broadcast live performances from their homes or studios. This format, offering a direct connection with the artist, became increasingly common and established itself.

Additionally, fan clubs have evolved, creating member communities via apps and websites to deliver exclusive content and live streams. I've seen artists answering chat questions during breaks on Instagram Live, which struck me as an evolution of the call-and-response interactions traditionally happening at venues.

While music livestreaming is often perceived as one-way content delivery, this past year truly demonstrated its strong compatibility with community building. Though some artists express that "streaming isn't fun without audience reactions," considering its synergy with community engagement, incorporating mechanisms to feed back fan and viewer reactions could significantly enhance its future development.

It's not exactly "necessity is the mother of invention," but live music, having gone through the pandemic, has rapidly evolved from a simple relationship connecting those who deliver music and those who listen, to a multiplication involving technology and community. At Ongakukari, we believe this is precisely where the "seeds of creativity" lie.

Music Gakari turns these synergies into stories!

Musical Caretakers is broadly composed of talent across three domains: "Producer," "Creative," and "Technical."

My Creative Team primarily handles live event concept development, production, and related communication tasks. However, ideas aren't solely generated by the Creative Team—the Producer and Technical teams collaborate too. Music Gakari's defining feature is the flat exchange of wisdom, experience, and creative ideas among all members.

The Creative Team could be described as the ones responsible for weaving the expanding ideas into a single cohesive story.

Why is it flat? There are two reasons.

First, as mentioned earlier in the discussion about the evolution of music livestreaming, we need more than just streaming music live. What's truly needed is the multiplication of "Music × Streaming × [something else]". The [something else] part might be proposed by producers who hold the information and needs of various stakeholders, or by the technical team who deeply understand the methods and technological perspectives needed to make it happen. Since the expertise each member possesses can all become ideas, the team is flat.

The second reason is that music professionals engage with a wide range of parties—not just artists and sponsoring companies, but also the artists' fans, event companies, streaming companies, and related organizations.

In other words, while advertising communication often focuses on solving a sponsor company's specific challenge, the Music Coordinator seeks a win-win outcome for all involved parties. This necessitates gathering and discussing diverse perspectives, which is why we consciously maintain a multi-perspective, flat team structure.

The ideas Music Gakari leads to might be "Music × Streaming × Sponsor A × Technology B," or perhaps "Music × Streaming × Sponsor C's Venue × Organization E's Donation Mechanism." Or it could be "Music × Streaming × Media F × Sponsor G × Fan Community H."

Dentsu Inc.'s extensive client resources are also one element in this multiplication. The more elements we have to multiply, the more ideas we can generate and the more diverse stories we can create—this is the strength of "DENTSU Music Curator ONLINE."

For example, when proposing for a client's community site,

"Community × Seasonal Customer Insights × Online Streaming Festival × Gift Campaign"

and as the connecting story, we depicted the situation: "Because you're staying home, you can fully immerse yourself in your favorite music. "

Alternatively, for last year's festival blending music and art, we crafted a story around "enjoying a relaxed time with art and music precisely because you can't attend the festival. "

"A client with highly discerning customers × An online-exclusive interview series utilizing intermission time"

If you're interested in collaborating or have ideas, please feel free to reach out. Why not join us at Ongakugakari and give back to music together?

【Contact Information】
DENTSU Music Caretaker ONLINE
ongakugakari@dentsu.co.jp