A key appeal of the service is its ability to support every stage of live streaming for classical concerts, from implementation to viewing.

The live concert streaming project itself had begun several years earlier. The Summer Muza project started around mid-April, when the impact of COVID-19 was becoming more serious, and I believe it was finalized in mid-June. At that time, our company still had limited expertise in the streaming business and could not build a streaming and paid viewing platform within such a short period. Therefore, we turned to the “SmartSTREAM” service for support. We had already worked with NTT SmartConnect in the past on initiatives such as high-resolution audio streaming experiments, which allowed us to move forward smoothly with their proposal.

“SmartSTREAM” provides all the essential functions required for video distribution—such as video encoding, streaming systems, and playback players—on a one-stop basis. It also offers flexible options tailored to specific needs, including limited-access streaming for selected viewers. In particular, for paid live streaming, we were interested in its ability to integrate with the ticketing system “TIGET LIVE”*, which enables paid live broadcasts. Furthermore, given the critical importance of system stability for live streaming, the reliability of the NTT Group gave us great peace of mind.

* “TIGET LIVE” is a trademark of grabss Inc.

I think the best part was the reassurance of having the SmartSTREAM staff respond directly on site. If you don’t have experience with live streaming, simply building a cloud environment can still leave you feeling uneasy when it comes to actual operations. Having professionals present on site was very reassuring. Throughout the 17 performances, they continuously monitored the streaming quality and also provided advice to ensure viewers could watch with proper audio quality. Even if you deliver high-definition, high-quality audio, problems will arise if viewers cannot actually watch or listen properly.
For this project, they provided strong end-to-end support until the very end. At the beginning of the performances, operations were somewhat slow, but communication between staff quickly became smooth, and we were able to complete the live streaming without issues. They also covered operational aspects such as video switching and audio adjustments, and even made concrete proposals regarding on-site equipment and the network used to transmit video — the very foundation of streaming. They were truly a reliable partner.

In addition, they were able to build the system within a very short preparation period, which was one of our main challenges, and their responsiveness was more than sufficient. It would not be an exaggeration to say that they handled almost everything for us. Even at the initial stage, they proposed the overall system framework, how to design the viewing website, and even matters related to payment authentication. We are very grateful for such thorough support.
Furthermore, they helped us handle customer inquiries. For organizers who directly receive questions from viewers, receiving advice from their knowledgeable team about how to respond to inquiries and what to include in answers was extremely reassuring. Rather than simply being a “provider of streaming services,” their attitude of supporting us as a member of the team working toward the success of the entire event was what we appreciated the most.

The live streaming of classical concerts received positive feedback from viewers, with many sending encouraging messages. Receiving such reactions gave us confidence that we were able to deliver high-quality streaming. We were able to stream performances every day without problems, so we can consider the project a success. Viewers from regional areas were also very pleased. With travel between regional areas and major cities still being approached cautiously, being able to deliver satisfying live streams of classical concerts to fans outside major cities will serve as valuable experience for future business expansion.

Originally, the reason for starting this live streaming project was the “Tokyo concentration” of concerts. About half of all concerts held annually in Japan take place in the metropolitan area, mainly Tokyo, meaning opportunities are limited for people living in regional areas. From the perspective of regional revitalization, it was necessary to create more opportunities for people to attend concerts in regional areas, or even host concerts in regional locations and stream them online.
However, due to COVID-19, it became impossible to hold concerts themselves. Even under such adversity, the live streaming was made possible because of the strong desire of theater and hall staff to continue sharing orchestral performances with audiences.

Stable paid live streaming of classical concerts can contribute to revenue generation for halls and theaters. In the future, if we can stream performances beyond just no-audience concerts, not only will more audiences be able to enjoy a single concert, but it may also help support concert venues facing difficult circumstances. Additionally, adding subtitles with commentary or other value-added content can further increase fan satisfaction. This success demonstrated the potential positive impact on everyone involved in classical music.

Through this experience, we strongly felt that live streaming presents many opportunities. For operators, there was also a strong sense of fulfillment in successfully completing a project during a challenging period for the industry. Thanks to SmartSTREAM, concerns about streaming infrastructure were eliminated. We are very satisfied with the brand’s stability, detailed support and proposals, and smooth on-site responses, and we hope to continue using the service with confidence.

On the other hand, despite this success, we must continue addressing challenges unique to digital concerts. Since classical music viewers tend to be mainly senior audiences, some may not have proper playback environments at home. While we plan to support smartphones in the future, the current system assumes PC viewing, meaning users must have a certain level of digital literacy regarding PC operation and accessing the viewing website. This is especially true for payment authentication for paid streaming. These issues cannot be solved immediately. The most important factor is our information outreach. By continuing educational activities about digital concerts and lowering the barriers to viewing, we believe we can take the first step toward developing digital distribution of classical concerts.

Until now, the value of classical concerts has been in the “live sound.” In reality, there may be lower demand from fans for “video” content. However, by increasing the value of live streaming itself and raising awareness of streaming, we believe there are opportunities.
Naturally, this is premised on building an environment that allows viewers to enjoy higher-quality, higher-fidelity concert streaming, but it is essential to include elements that are uniquely valuable to streaming. For example, as mentioned earlier, streaming with commentary may be one such strength, as is building stronger two-way communication with users. This is because classical concerts often have little or no performer greetings or talk segments, meaning audiences rarely get to hear about performers’ inner thoughts, such as what emotions they put into their performance or their personal attachment to the pieces they play. If streaming can supplement that aspect, listeners may enjoy the music more deeply. Conversely, viewers’ reactions and encouragement could also be directly transmitted to the performers. Rather than simply delivering concerts as an extension of traditional broadcasting, we aim to grow audiences by pursuing what is uniquely possible through streaming.
Additionally, unlike recorded video, live streaming has the major advantage of allowing audiences to “participate in concerts from home.” Since viewers are not watching pre-recorded content later, we want to emphasize this real-time experience.

As part of efforts to increase awareness, broader information outreach is required to create new customer segments. We want to use social media and other channels to deliver message-driven PR to younger generations who have not previously been interested in classical music. In digital media, younger audiences are already familiar with live streaming culture through smartphones and tablets. Through our information outreach, we hope to spark interest in classical music.

As a specific future vision, we are also looking toward “secondary use” of streamed content. By enriching content on our own website, we aim to create a community where both classical industry professionals and fans can gather. We would like to stream archived concert videos online and potentially utilize them in the future through subscription-style distribution models. For this reason, we would like to continue using the video streaming platform SmartSTREAM for such purposes.

Our focus on sound quality in streaming will never change. Our ideal is to provide high-quality video and audio to people who cannot attend the venue, so that more people can enjoy and be satisfied with the experience.