Africa to the World: Burna Boy and WizKid Live Show Strategy Review
With touring being a major source of revenue for artists, and the live music industry set to lose nearly $9 billion in ticket sales due to cancelled performances this year, the pressure was on for musicians to connect with fans and make money.
With 2020 seeing Lil Nas X’s Roblox concerts gain 33 million views and K-pop stars BTS’s ‘Bang Bang Con’ generating almost $20 million in ticket sales for a single virtual show, many anticipated how African artists will navigate this time. Enter Burna Boy and WizKid.
First up on Wednesday November 18th was Burna Boy, who partnered with MelodyVR, the purpose built music Virtual Reality company. On the event Burna Boy stated:
“I can’t wait to come at you, live from London with MelodyVR. This virtual show will be from the heart to my friends around the world. It’ll be twice as close, twice as realistic and twice as tall.”
Burna took the pay-per-view approach, charging fans £12.99 for the explosive performance. The night saw Burna Boy perform classic hits as well as newer songs from his latest album ‘Twice as Tall,’ and an appearance from fellow African superstar WizKid. This delivered additional value to fans who were able to see the performer up close and personal thanks to 360-degree cameras.
While this strategy is a sure way of generating revenue through ticket sales, a limit of MelodyVR’s platform is its interactivity. While the immersive experience simulated watching an artist perform live, the social aspect of this event lacked. In a time where people are craving social interaction more than ever, and similar content on social platforms being ready available, a simple live comment section could have brought the sense of community. The lack of a distinct hashtag for the night’s events did not help to push community conversations outside of MelodyVR’s app.
The second major question of this strategy is how well MelodyVR’s business model caters to some of Burna Boy’s core fan base in countries like his native country Nigeria. While Africa’s internet economy continues to grow, with the potential to reach $180 billion by 2025, how many fans ruled the night as inaccessible is to be seen.
Nevertheless, Burna Boy broke boundaries as one of the first African artists to experiment with a pay-per-view VR concert. As promised, he delivered the energy, but whether MelodyVR was the most impactful platform for this is doubtable.
Next up on Thursday November 19th was WizKid. ‘A Day In The Live’ was a full YouTube Originals production. For context, high calibre figures such as Michelle Obama and Justin Bieber have previously had the honour of a YouTube Originals series. So for many, this night was a historic moment.
Hot on the heels of his latest album ‘Made in Lagos,’ the three hour event, hosted by Julie Adenuga, gave fans a live and authentic view into the superstars life. The event ended with an hour long concert with a cameo from Skepta, of whom he teased a joint album with for 2021.
Contrary to Burna Boy’s strategy, utilising YouTube meant that the livestream was free and widely accessible, which reflected in the streaming numbers. WizKid racked up over 700,000 views in under 24 hours from its premiere, with fans from all over the globe connecting in the livestream’s comments over their love for WizKid. YouTube also allowed for fans to donate to the artist during the livestream.
As the 2000s era of reality TV shows has been replaced by social media profiles, last night proved that fans still crave authentic views of artists lives. For many, finding out that WizKid likes his Jollof rice with multiple meats, gets his love for fashion from his dad and has a strong bond with his young son Zion made him that more relatable and furthered the feeling of viewing exclusive content. Rounding this up with an hour long performance which referenced Nigeria’s ongoing SARS protests strongly tied the experience together.
The strength of Wizkid’s approach was driven by his fans, with the clear #WizKidLiveYT hashtag, which went on to become the #1 trending topic worldwide.
That night we saw WizKid the artist, the father, the celebrity, the friend and the fashionista. We saw a clear understanding of his core fan base in his strategy, with YouTube providing the perfect platform for his fans to actively engage with the content. But we most importantly saw how far WizKid and Afrobeats has come.
Perhaps the biggest lesson to African artists from ‘A Day in the Live’ is how to connect with fans in an accessible and authentic way. In a world where music videos and concerts are readily available to view, ensuring fans are being provided additional value, and tapping into the collective desire to socialise in 2020 is a winning strategy.
Both WizKid and Burna Boy made history this week, and flew the flag for Afrobeats globally. We look forward to seeing where other African artists take virtual experiences.
Till next time.
Toni from Next In Culture
