John Petrocelli

In its never-ending effort to generate more revenue beyond the spot business, radio has ventured into the concert business as well as digital platforms and podcasting. Another promising avenue for potential revenue is livestreaming - and few in this industry have more insight into its potential than Bulldog DM CEO/Founder John Petrocelli, who has aggressively stayed ahead of the curve, first with Prince, then with AEG and now on his own. In that time, he was instrumental in bringing together major concert events such as Coachella and Lollapalooza with tech giants YouTube, Facebook and Fortnite. In that time, he has brought major brands the likes of Viacom and AT&T into the fold. Here he describes livestreaming's potential and what radio can do to tap into its potential.

What first got you interested in the live streaming field?

I first got interested in live streaming when I began working with Prince to help him build his direct-to-consumer music store. He began preparing for a massive tour that coincided with the online music club and store and I was able to see him perform ahead of the tour in some smaller venues, then at arenas and after parties once the tour launched. It opened my eyes. Prince was very forward thinking with technology and reaching fans directly. I began to realize that live performances one day would be shared, collaborative events driven by technology and streaming. I was on the board of advisors for a live streaming company for years and I took over the CEO role and very quickly AEG took notice and bought my company. I moved the company to a leadership position in the market and enabled all of the live streaming for the most-watched events in the world: the Grammys, Oscars, Masters, TED, E3, and all of MTV's live events. I also began a conversation with YouTube about live streaming and collaborated with them on a proof of concept and eventually became their provider for live streaming enabling events like Coachella, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, Rock in Rio, The Royal Wedding, sporting events, product launches and movie premieres. This work helped realize a vision of starting my own business, Bulldog DM.

Before we go on, describe your experience with Prince.

It was the most amazing, eye-opening experience of my career. Prince was a brilliant human being who was so far advanced artistically. His mind was way ahead of the curve. He wasn't a technologist, but he knew the possibilities of music distribution. Unfortunately, back then distribution was limited to downloading only, as limited connectivity didn't allow for streaming. He was thinking six to eight years ahead and he'd get frustrated that his vision and content creation strategy was too far ahead of present-day technology He'd come up with fascinating ideas yet it was challenging to explain and convey to him that "this can't work the way you want it to." He was a creative force who believed that anything was possible. It saddens me that he's not around today because there are so many more things he would've accomplished.

He also helped me immensely in the music world; I learned how an artist operates by working with one of the most prolific independent artists of all time and one of the greatest live performers of all time.

There are an estimated 4,000 pieces of content in his vault. He was reportedly writing one or two new songs a day. Unfortunately, for a person who spent his whole life protecting his intellectual property, he left no will and it is up to the court system to determine the future of his content and assignment to his heirs. I believe they could create an online Prince community and generate a new piece of his content every week for the next 20-30 years. It would be the only time in history that you could ever see a single artist with this breadth of content combined with a global fan base that transcends generations, race, sex, music genres etc.

Back to your affairs, when did you feel comfortable that you have a firm grasp of the live streaming terrain?

When we started, we'd get involved in major events like the Grammys and the Oscars. Once we mastered that, we then started executing projects like Coachella on YouTube. That's when we started to see this as a business with significant growth potential. Next two things happened: More connected devices entered the marketplace and the ability to play back high-quality video became nearly ubiquitous especially on smart phones. Second, social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitch and Twitter started prioritizing live video - and the whole market roared to life

What was it like when your company was being courted and eventually acquired by a huge entity such as AEG?

It was a 180. We were a company of six employees acquired by a massive entity that owns things like Staples Center and Coachella. However, AEG, namely then-CEO Tim Lewiecke and CFO Dan Beckerman, said to me, "We'll get out of your way and give you the resources you need." They were true to their word.

Small companies that get access to key operational resources can really thrive and we did - our business completely exploded. As we grew, AEG offered more support and exposed us to their relationships and we had some great collaborations with AEG Global Partnerships working with people like Andrew Klein. Acquisitions don't always work out, but for us AEG became an incredible parent company and helped make us very successful. They are a great company that is really well run with a terrific culture.

Did being a part of AEG change the way you looked at your craft or the business in general?

First off, it gave me a lot of credibility in bigger conversations with the likes of Viacom, AT&T and YouTube. It definitely helped with the landmark YouTube partnership that got Coachella over on the YouTube platform. You need a lot of ammunition and credibility in those conversations and obviously this company has a huge and respected live footprint. When you have a campus like LA Live, it's easy to amplify concert experiences through streaming opportunities. AEG enabled us to bring bigger brands to the table, which became a big opportunity for us to grow.

What made you decide to leave AEG and form your own company?

Working across our prestigious client base, numerous YouTube projects and AEG partnerships, we started to see the evolution of the experience economy. Moreover, younger people wanted to be at events and if they couldn't be there in person, they were very interested in participating via a livestream. It dawned on us that Madison Ave. was headed towards imminent and widespread disruption. Thus we felt there was white space for us to operate and build a business that connected brands, technology and live content.

What are the main challenges to effective live streaming?

The first challenge is building awareness that the live stream exists. Today social media platforms now make it easy to engage a large audience.

Second, the venue must have adequate bandwidth on premise to broadcast, or we need ample lead time to provision and bring a bandwidth solution to the venue.

Third is cost - which can be addressed by bridging the gap between the tech and advertising community. Livestreaming, when done properly with a brand, is the perfect solution for an industry like advertising that is in the midst of disruption and upheaval, what with cord cutting and the massive adoption of ad blockers. A branded livestream can impactfully drive a marketing strategy via engagement. Engagement is watch or view time and we've mastered how to drive significant watch time. - 5, 10, 20, 30 or more minutes - sometimes over one hour. Brands find it challenging to capture anyone's attention -- especially millennials and Gen z -- for more than seconds. We look at the challenges in the ad industry as opportunities for live streaming.

We're focused on solving all three of these challenges, thus we're in a strong and unique place.

What's the best way for radio to utilize live streaming?

An opening night of a tour, livestreaming an entire music festival or a performance are key opportunities for radio. Not only do you give people the ability to watch and be transformed by the performance, but the viewer can participate by posting comments and sharing photos during the live broadcast. The stream becomes a tremendous opportunity to discover a new artist's catalog or find out what else is happening across the network or at the radio station; iHeart does this effectively today, for example. Once you've got the viewers' and listeners' attention, you can inform them about future tour dates, the launch of the act's new record, or even a great promotion on the station, such as nights or shows dedicated to specific artists like Mumford & Sons, Paul McCartney or Travis Scott. The livestreaming of premium music content is an opening, an opportunity to engage people and direct them towards additional premium content.

What are the keys that make a livestreaming event successful and one that doesn't?

Having been at this for 18 years, I've learned what to do and what not to do. One thing is to remember that livestreaming is different than video on demand. The livestreaming video player has to load in the first five seconds, or you'll lose 20% of the audience. We've created live streaming video player technology that is fast loading, robust and scalable.

Offering the viewer to switch cameras or stages allows them to curate their viewing experience which can make for a much more successful live stream as watch times increase and viewers begin to share links to the live show to their friends and followers.

We've created ways to incorporate the conversation of the social stream into the event; which has to be a part of the experience. Fans want to post, comment, tweet, and chat about what they are livestreaming. However, the comments can be off topic, offensive and not related to the video, so we've developed tools that will aggregate the conversation and more importantly, curate the conversation. Now the social stream is related to the video and fans watch longer, engage more and share more.

Also, the quality of the video is important. Fortunately, 4K cameras are everywhere and aren't cost-prohibitive. Bandwidth shouldn't be an issue. Most venues are already wired for digital broadcasting. Having great connectivity is a key driver; if the venue you want to use isn't properly equipped, you'll have to bring in the infrastructure and bandwidth.

Finally, you have to do it on consistent basis, not just once or twice year. You should offer livestreaming events at least quarterly; monthly is better and doing them weekly tends to build your overall audience. It creates a narrative that you're the place to go to see and hear special events.

What's the next step in livestreaming? How will it evolve in the future?

We're going to see more expansion and growth across the market especially on social media platforms. Twitter just announced a commitment to livestreaming with more music, news and sports programming. Twitch continues to expand in gaming and esports, but also into other verticals like the recent Marshmello concert on Fortnite. At the end of the day, if you want to reach more Millennials and Gen Z, live video is a great way to do that. According to Nielsen, 53% of Millennials watch live video and 42% of them create it,

Where do you see you and your company evolving in the future?

We're open to where the market takes us. Interesting things will develop in premium live video as the experience economy continues to thrive. We have unique position with brands but also experts on how to properly livestream from Twitch, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram with other platforms to be come. We're also adept at building livestreaming experiences on artist sites, brand sites or anywhere with embeddable experience technology. Live video is still very new; it has only come into the forefront over the last two-and-a-half years. We have a lot more work to do. We feel we're positioned in a very promising place reflected in our client list that includes Netflix, Apple, AT&T, Samsung, American Express, the NFL, Coca-Cola, Sony, Nestle, Snickers, Hyundai, Tiffany, Hilton, Nissan, Jeep and Facebook. We'd love to see more big companies step in with us. There's also going to be a lot of partnering and strategic relationships from merger and acquisition activity.