Irishman in Australia offers creative solution to impact of coronavirus on the music industry

Netgigs, an Australia-based company run by Irishman Joe Ward, is offering a creative solution to the unprecedented impact that coronavirus has had on the global music industry. With countless of gigs and live events being cancelled around the world, the new online live music streaming service is a unique way of helping musicians to bring music to audiences on lockdown.

Officially launched this month, Netgigs streams an artist’s live performance from a venue or a studio to their fans worldwide in high definition video and audio on their pay-per-view platform – returning royalties back to the artists.

The company's founder and managing director Joe Ward is a South Australia-based musician with a professional background in business and technology. He started Netgigs with the aim of providing artists with the ability to reach their fans that couldn’t make it to their live shows. He also identified that live streaming can be a new way for artists to monetise their music by selling a streaming ticket to their shows.

In light of the outbreak of COVID-19, Netgigs is now offering a creative way for live music to continue to be played to audiences across the world.

“The global music industry is taking, and will continue to take, a massive financial hit due to the Corona Virus for the foreseeable future," Ward has said in a statement. "Tours and live shows are being cancelled and the economic impact this will have for artists and venues will be catastrophic.

“Our ground-breaking service will be a major enabler for artists, allowing audiences to continue to experience live music performances from their lounge-rooms, or wherever they might be, using a mobile device.”

Netgigs have established audio/visual production teams in over 100 countries that will film and stream the shows no matter where artists are. They have also negotiated music licensing with major international music rights agencies ensuring musicians receive royalties for every single Netgigs ticket sold.

If you're in a label, booking agency, management, or in a band and want to find out more about Netgigs and how you can reach your fans, contact Joe and the Netgigs team via email at [email protected].