Driift sell over 85,000 tickets for Little Mix’s global livestream from the O2 20 May 2022
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Final show on the band’s sell-out Confetti Tour experienced in realtime by fans in 143 countries
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The livestream attracts an estimated audience of more than 200,000 - approximately ten times The O2’s capacity
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The event is also simulcast to cinemas worldwide, accounting for 29,000 sales and a Top 5 placing at the UK-Ireland box office
Driift, the world’s leading specialist producer and promoter of online music events, can reveal that Saturday’s livestream for Little Mix sold more than 85,000 tickets to the band’s global fanbase.
Broadcast live from the The O2, London, on May 14th, and directed by Liz Clare (Gold Dust Films), the show was watched by ticket buyers in 143 countries - including 29,000 cinema-goers, who enjoyed a simulcast of the event via a partnership with Rippla in association with CinemaLive. The screening has successfully sailed into this week’s UK-Ireland Box Office Top 5.
The livestream marked the final date on Little Mix’s hugely successful Confetti Tour and showcased Driift’s growing reputation for delivering truly hybrid productions, where online audiences share the realtime experience of a live “in-person” performance.
With The O2 completely sold out, Driift conservatively estimates that a further 200,000 Little Mix fans will have accessed the show online - equivalent to ten times the venue’s 20,000 capacity.
Ric Salmon, co-founder and CEO, Driift:
“Now the music business has emerged from lockdown, and with gigs and festivals once again in full flight, we are only now seeing the full potential of livestreaming. The format is clearly here to stay, and with the right artist and the right creative and technical team in place, we can expand a single one-off performance into a genuine global event. The reaction from fans has been astonishing. I would like to congratulate Little Mix, their brilliant management team, and all our partners on this incredible achievement, and I’m delighted so many people around the world could share in such a unique and special moment.”
Harry Magee, co-founder, Modest! Management:
“Having worked with Driift on Niall Horan’s Royal Albert Hall livestream back in 2020, it’s been a real pleasure to repeat our partnership outside of lockdown. We are delighted with the results, and particularly that such a genuinely global audience could share in the celebratory experience of Little Mix’s last show at The O2.”
Listen to an interview with Claire Mas, COO, Driift, on BBC Radio 5’s Wake Up To Money podcast here (from 44m).
Co-founded by Ric Salmon and Brian Message at ATC Management, Driift has now produced more than 40 online shows for artists including The Smile, Westlife, Laura Marling, Nick Cave, Niall Horan, Andrea Bocelli, Kylie Minogue, Fontaines D.C. and Dita Von Teese. The company, which counts Beggars Group and Deezer as investors, also co-produced the award-winning Live At Worthy Farm livestream for Glastonbury Festival. Collaborating with globally-renowned directors, the business has now sold more than 700,000 tickets and won recognition from BAFTA, the Royal Television Society and The Webby Awards.
Priced at GBP £13.00 / USD $17.00 / Euro €15.50 / AUD A$23.00, the original 8pm UK broadcast for Little Mix was later retransmitted for the benefit of audiences in North America and Asia. In addition to livestream access, ticket buyers could enjoy unlimited, on-demand, replays for up to 48-hours after the show ended.
Fans also had an opportunity to donate to the band’s chosen charity partners, Child Poverty Action Group and Choose Love.
Jade Thirlwall, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Perrie Edwards have established themselves as the world’s biggest girl band - they have sold over 50 million records worldwide, collected over 22 million monthly Spotify listeners, received over 3 billion YouTube views, and collated 12 billion streams worldwide.
2021 marked 10 years of Little Mix and the band released an album 'Between Us', which is to date the 5th biggest selling album of 2022 in the UK. The album is a celebration of a decade of global hits from a record-breaking pop band.
2021 proved to be a record-breaking year for the band. Little Mix won 'Best British Group' at the 2021 BRIT Awards, the first female group in history to ever win the award. Then August saw Little Mix celebrate 100 weeks in the Official UK Singles Chart Top 10, the most for a girl band in history. 2021 witnessed the band hit No.1 in the UK with their smash hit single ‘Sweet Melody’, their 5th UK No.1 single.
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THE HEADLINES
Has pop music become stagnant? Kind of yes but also no (see Analysis)
Why are we still using Spotify? (see Opinion)
TikTok launches TikTok Songwriter Features (see Digital)
EU Commission reportedly prepares ‘full-scale, four-month investigation’ into UMG’s proposed Downtown purchase (see Business)
Lisa Nandy MP addressed the UK Music Summer Party (see News)
Building fandom is about the journey, not the destination (see Opinion)
Industry calls for streaming sites to tag music created by AI-generated acts (see News)
“Content is king” say analysts - so why is Spotify worth more than the entire music rights industry? (see Comment)
Where’s the next wave of working-class rock stars? (see Features)
Populists vs. tech titans: The battle over AI and the future of music (see Comment)
Can TikTok revive classic songs? A statistical analysis (see Analysis)
UMG’s Michael Nash: ‘AI can be instrumental to the future of music’ (see Digital)
In the post-music streaming era, do artists and labels give too much away? (see Comment)
Songwriters ‘missing millions in royalties from more than 100,000 UK gigs’ (see News)
Merck Mercuriadis plots comeback with Hipgnosis remix (see Business)