1.  Live Is Growing Faster Than Anyone Expected

Music is one of the most obvious use cases for live video as (a) the live music experience is special and most fans regard it as superior to recorded music, and (b) live music is easily filmed and looks and sounds good on video--the musicians are generally static so no fancy shots and set-ups are needed, greatly reducing production costs.  That helps explain why Live.ly, a live-streaming music service, now has more users than Periscope. (We’ll let that sink in a minute, given that few people have ever heard of live.ly.) More than that, musicians are actually earning a living on live.ly, pulling in close to $20K/month in some instances.Why It MattersWhile many of the initial use cases for live video have been to promote another program or event, music is the first example where live streaming is the main event. It shouldn’t be long before we see music services like Spotify, Vevo and Pandora bringing live streaming into the mix--it makes a lot of sense for them to offer it as an option. When big name artists start live streaming shows, the overall profile of live streamed music will get a huge boost, helping up and coming artists in the process. The greater intimacy and interactivity possible online will help these new artists connect to their fans, developing the type of relationships that builds bigger, more dedicated, and more easily monetized audiences.What You Need To Do About ItIf you’re an MVPD, you’ll want to think about adding some of these live streamed shows into your line-up-- either put the app in your VOD library or strike a deal to have original content that’s only available to your subscribers.If you’re a network, consider creating a show that features live streamed music. You can have users connect with it via social media so that the interactivity that makes live streaming so special is not lost.If you’re a brand, sponsoring live streamed concerts is a no-brainer. You get access to a dedicated, passionate audience who will think well of your brand for sponsoring their favorite artist.  

2. Apple Gets Dinged Again

One of the highlights of the new Apple TV OS was the ability to maintain a single sign-on: your MVPD sign-in info would enable you to automatically sign in to every network app you had access to.To which Comcast and Charter, the nation’s two largest cable companies, responded “not so fast,” refusing, this week, to grant Apple access to their systems.Why It MattersWe’ll never know exactly what was behind Comcast and Charter’s decisions, but we can make some educated guesses. First and foremost was the old “Apple killed the music business” trope which means that no one in the TV industry trusts Apple as far as they can throw them and will almost automatically reject anything Apple proposes.The second is that Comcast and Charter are likely looking to their own TV Everywhere apps and don’t want people using apps on Apple TV instead. So why give Apple any sort of advantage? What You Need To Do About ItPlay both sides: there’s the MVPD TV Everywhere app ecosystem that will get a big jolt when/if Nielsen TAM ever goes live, and then there’s the standalone network app ecosystem which desperately needs a unified guide of some sort. Smart brands and networks will make bets on both horses, at least until it becomes clear which one is going to be the winner.

TV[R]EV is written, curated and incubated by the BRaVe Ventures team. Find TV[R]EV on Facebook and Twitter, and sign up for the newsletter to stay up to date on the TV[R]EVOLUTION