BTS’s Online Concert Event Concept Already Being Copied

In addition to being k-pop stars and chart-toppers, BTS and their team are known in the music industry for being forward-thinking business personalities who are able to find new ways to build their brand, connect with fans and rake in huge earnings. 

Now, one of their most recent ideas is already being copied by another titan in the music business, and thankfully it’s for a good cause.

This past weekend, BTS hosted the Bang Bang Con, which was something of an online music festival. The group published set times and let fans know how and when to tune in, and millions of people all around the world watched concert footage from past shows on tours that took place years ago. It sounds like a fairly simple concept, but the Korean septet was able to make it seem grander and more important by marketing it as a special event. 

In doing so, they succeeded brilliantly, and over 50 million people tuned in to Bang Bang Con and it dominated entertainment news headlines around the globe for days. 

This coming weekend, Warner Music is attempting to do the same thing, only the company isn’t focusing on one group/individual, but rather pulling from its impressive roster to make its staging much more of a varied music festival, as opposed to a two-day masterclass on one name.

Starting on April 24 and running for 72 hours consecutively, Warner Music will host what it’s calling PlayOn Fest. Anybody can tune in for free at the event’s website or via Songkick’s YouTube page, where donations benefiting the World Health Organization's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund will be encouraged.

The festival will be nothing more than an airing of archival concert footage, most (or all) of which has never been seen before, and much of which won’t be seen again. 65 names will apparently take part (though the artists don’t have to do much), including Lil Uzi Vert, Cardi B, Ed Sheeran, Twenty One Pilots, Bruno Mars, Panic! At The Disco, Coldplay, Roddy Ricch, Green Day, and many, many more. 

Like BTS’s Bang Bang Con, this event is actually rather easy to stage: concert footage that was sitting around not making much money (or in this case, likely not making anyone any money at all) will be aired for countless fans at home to watch in the comfort of their homes, and it all seems much greater than it really is because it comes with a name, a poster, and a specific date and time. Instead of just posting a concert video to YouTube and moving on, this is about a shared experience, and it’s the closest anybody can come to a real show right now.

BTS’s Bang Bang Con was not a fundraiser for a good cause, but Warner Music’s is, so while it’s tough to say if it will be able to pull in the same number of viewers, any amount of money raised will surely help those in need.