WE LIVE. Performing ‘New Amerykah Part 2’ • Badu’s THE QUARINTINE CONCERT SERIES presents: Apocalypse Two - LIVE FROM BADUBOTRON • $2 • INTERACTIVE • LIVESTREAM experience!! > https://t.co/DRLA96ytzy pic.twitter.com/uty3OwfPtT
— ErykahBadoula (@fatbellybella) April 6, 2020
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Erykah Badu made $10,000 for her band, charging roughly 10,000 fans only $1 to watch a live show from her house in Dallas.
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A-Trak raised $180,000 for the Association of Electronic Music with virtual shows.
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Diplo joined a bevy of other major acts for Stream Aid, Twitch’s play on Live Aid, to raise money to fight COVID-19.
While the news for the music industry—which has become increasingly reliant on revenues from live performances—has mostly been grim, these small successes point to a new sort of economy; one where fans can pay artists small amounts directly for access to their music.
Dystopian Beach Festival
And the new virtual music economy isn’t just concerts. Virtual nightclubs where guests dress up and interact with each other, just like at a real club, are popping up too. And some of them come with a cover.
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Club Quarantee attempts to create the bottle-service vibe with models and tables. It’s $10 for entry and $80 for a “private room.”
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Not to be confused with Club Quarantine AKA Club Q, an LGTBQ club attempting to “Queer Zoom.” This one works on a donation basis.
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Zone is a 16 “room” virtual club that allows users to experience different scenes and forms of music.
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Club Matryoshka is a Minecraft club that uses a subscription model.