This isn't really analytics-related but I wasn't sure what other groups would be better. Please delete if not appropriate.
Is anyone offering or planning to offer paid digital subscriptions? We are looking into that as a possible revenue option if we are unable to reopen for the foreseeable future. I'm curious which platforms you use to host the concert and how it integrates with Tessitura. We are a PAC so I'm also interested if any other PACs or presenting houses are looking into this and, if so, how are you planning to navigate artist rights and where the show is performed.
This is completely new to us to any insight is appreciated! Any implementation challenges or "I wish I would have knowns" are also welcome!
(Cross-posting in the forums just in case.)
We just began doing this here at SFJAZZ. We're streaming a select concert from our archives every Friday at 5pm (we're calling it Fridays at Five). We're already on a Membership model, as opposed to a Subscription model, so we already have controls in place on our website to allow member-only access to basically any page we choose (members-only events, presales, etc). We built a new membership type, Digital Membership, and locked the URL for the stream behind the member wall. All current Members have access, plus anyone with the new Digital Membership. This is working great as far as it goes (and initial results, after the first full month, are pretty good). Customers are having the usual login issues/etc, but most people are quite happy with it so far. We're using YouTube hosting for the actual streaming.As for Analytics and integration with Tessitura, of course, that's a different beast. The only integration with Tessitura is on the Membership side, and as the data guy, I'm being asked if there's any way to integrate the Google Analytics and YouTube Analytics figures with actual Tessitura data, and of course there really isn't. I'm still lookiing into things (and if anyone has any suggestions, I'd be happy to hear them!), so if I find anything I'll try to update anyone interested, but right now the streaming/viewing numbers are basically locked away in their own universe.
Thanks, Justin! Are your member pages part of TNEW or are they custom built on your website? We don't have any membership models in place but this could be an interesting use for one! Also, if you are using YouTube, are you able to restrict the stream? Have you noticed any issues with Bandwidth?
We switched from TNEW to a fully custom site (we used Adage) a couple years ago because TNEW couldn't handle the traffic during our onsales. That took years of convincing, as you can imagine. I don't know all the technical details at the moment, but I'd be happy to check in with the folks who set it up if you have further questions. What I do know is that we're only streaming the concerts through YouTube, not making them available for re-viewing. We just have a page on our site (www.sfjazz.org/watch) that we're restricting to Members only, with the new Digital Members counting for the purposes of that page (though not for some other ones). We embed the YouTube player there with the stream. Because YouTube is hosting, no bandwidth issues so far despite this last Friday's concert spiking our site traffic at its highest point ever (literally). I will say, though, that this whole setup is provisional. It may or may not be the solution going forward, but it has limitations (Tessitura integration and resulting analytical blindspots being among the biggest), and we're looking into other options now that we're near the end of the scrambling-to-get-it-up phase.