5 Reasons Why Music Creatives Should Use Periscope More Often

I know people love Snapchat, especially because of the "major keys" that DJ Khaled drops on there. When I get on there, I like it too. It's extremely convenient for short stories. However, the long stories filled with videos, are annoying to me, especially from creatives. I don't know about you all, but I'm not trying to see 25 10 second videos of a performance over on Snapchat. That goes for Instagram video and Vine as well. You can only see 1 minute videos on Instagram and 6 seconds on Vine. 

However, if a creative is live streaming their performance on a platform where the stream is consistent, then I would be fine with it. That's where platforms like YouTube, Facebook Live, and Periscope are really cool. But, personally, as you can tell from the title of this post, I prefer Periscope over the other two tools.  

Seeing artists such as Erykah Badu, Lalah Hathaway, Royce da 5'9, 9th Wonder, Khrysis, and Logic do live streams on Periscope are awesome. From rehearsals, behind the scenes of their creative processes, and performances to random conversations with fans, I love seeing music creatives share their creative lives with everyone that wants to watch. There are a few reasons why I choose Periscope for music creatives: 

Periscope provides lengthy streaming and instant conversations with your viewers. 

You can stream for 10 seconds or for multiple hours (as long as you have wifi access and a charger) on Periscope, chat, and see how viewers feel about what you're doing as you go on right from your phone. I'm sure someone is gonna say that you can chat with your viewers on YouTube & Facebook Live too but with even more flexibility since you can use a laptop as well. However, Facebook Live only allows you to stream for up to 90 minutes, while YouTube & Periscope allows you to stream for as long as you want.  

Periscope is simple to use. 

Snapchat took a while to learn. I've never used Facebook Live, but it looks similar to the setup of Periscope, so I believe it's also simple to use. But, YouTube live streaming involves multiple steps to get it going. 

You can download the live stream from Periscope's app and post onto YouTube and Facebook. 

Once you're done streaming, you can download the stream and repurpose it for YouTube and Facebook. You can even add the snippets on Snapchat & Instagram to preview it for folks to check out over on Periscope, YouTube or Facebook.  

Periscope streams can automatically go on your Twitter profile when you go live. 

If you're on Twitter (which you should be), you automatically have a Periscope account because Twitter owns Periscope. So, when you go live on Periscope, you can immediately share your stream on Twitter. People can also watch your stream, live and recorded, from their Twitter timelines, especially via computer. 

Periscope isn't filled with artists, but it is filled with marketers and PR professionals. 

Most artists are over on Snapchat and Instagram with their videos, which gives you an opportunity to shine on another platform. This is where Periscope comes in, which is underutilized by artists. Now, why is the marketing/PR issue a good thing? Well, if you're a lesser known artist that hasn't built up their team yet, this is an opportunity to get people on your team that understand social media and can help you get to the next level in your career.  If that doesn't work, then use some of the tips they share. Either way, you're winning.

If you're interested in going live on Periscope, check out this article from HypeBot about what types of things to stream and this article from Berklee on useful tips for artists to consider when using Periscope.