“The relationship between BTS and ARMY runs deep”

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In June 2020, BTS hosted an online concert called “Bang Bang Con The Live” on a streaming platform called VenewLive. The concert broke audience records and several BTS concerts have aired on VenewLive since “Bang Bang Con The Live”. The platform has also hosted concerts for artists such as Tomorrow X Together, Seventeen and Sunmi.

On October 24, BTS’s Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V and Jungkook hosted an online concert called “Permission to Dance On Stage.” After the gig, Showbiz Cheat Sheet interviewed Mike Schabel, the CEO of the company behind VenewLive, Kiswe. Via email, Schabel shared his thoughts on BTS and the future of concert livestreams.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

BTS | Big hit music

Mike Schabel is the CEO of Kiswe

Showbiz cheat sheet: For those who don’t know, can you explain what exactly Kiswe is?

Mike Schabel: Kiswe is a B2B technology company that helps media rights holders connect directly with their audiences. We specialize in live events and creating deeply interactive experiences for consumers.

Showbiz cheat sheet: How does Kiswe create memorable experiences for viewers, especially since sports and music fans are quite numerous and have high expectations?

Mike Schabel: Memorable experiences are created by artists, not by Kiswe. Artists are those who have a story to tell. Our job is to make sure they have a really good platform to tell their stories… Make no mistake about it. Real live video is extremely difficult to do correctly. This is true for television, and it is true for digital live video.

Live events always have issues at some point – but if no one is affected, then we’ve done our job as a platform provider. We also ensure that the video is of exceptional quality and presented in a manner that is comfortable for different audiences. One thing we have mastered is providing real-time multilingual closed captioning to serve an international audience.

Our platform includes a huge portfolio of tools that allow fans to cheer – by mashing buttons or contributing video, which we use to produce a huge virtual fan camera that we include in the event. When fans contribute and see their contribution making a difference on the event, the experience becomes exceptional. Then they are part of the story.

RELATED: What Songs Did BTS Perform During ‘Clearance To Dance On Stage’?

‘Bang Bang Con the Live’ was BTS ‘first online gig on VenewLive

Showbiz cheat sheet: How did you start working with HYBE?

Mike Schabel: Looking back at the beginning of our journey with HYBE, it was triggered by a market need and materialized in the development of relationships based on trust and a commitment to do something new and fundamentally different. BTS worked really hard in 2019 to travel around the world. Even so, they were only able to perform live for a fraction of their fans. They wanted to create more vibrant and meaningful bonds with all of their fans through the presentation of their music.

The relationship was expanded to include Universal Music Group and YG Entertainment to help transform the approach to the live music industry with the launch of a consumer-oriented platform called VenewLive.

Showbiz cheat sheetQ .: Can you explain what it was like to host BTS’s “Bang Bang Con: The Live” show in 2020?

Mike Schabel: Again, Big Hit Entertainment and BTS took the real risk of putting “Bang Bang Con” on. But Kiswe had an important job to do. It was both exhilarating and frankly terrifying. We built our platform and went to great lengths to test it.

My nervousness was amplified because of the importance of the event. What I had learned and respected was that the relationship between BTS and ARMY runs deep. Due to the pandemic, they have been separated from each other. We had only one shot, and only one, to give them the opportunity to connect to a live event. We felt an immense sense of duty to BTS, ARMY, HYBE, the emerging live streaming industry and the large number of music professionals across the world who depended on live music for their livelihoods, to do the right thing. things.

About a month after the concert, I was giving a virtual lecture at a college. One of the students brought her BTS glowstick, waved it wildly, said she loved the concert, and thanked Kiswe. It made me feel like we did our job for BTS and ARMY.

RELATED: Review: BTS Preview Their Upcoming In-Person Gigs With ‘Permission To Dance On Stage’

BTS online concerts are hosted on VenewLive

Showbiz cheat sheet: How did you feel when “Bang Bang Con: The Live” set the Guinness World Record for most viewers for a live music concert?

Mike Schabel: Every award that is earned is an accomplishment of humility, and it was no different when the world record was set. But this price does not go to Kiswe. It was defined by BTS and ARMY. We were there as a platform to facilitate it. What really excites us is not the traditional things as measured by Guinness, but rather the level of interaction that comes from each concert goer… When you see people in almost every country lighting up the world – all clapping together for the same reason – it creates a feeling of joy and hope that no prize will ever be able to.

Showbiz cheat sheet: VenewLive has since hosted several BTS concerts, including “Map of the Soul ON: E”, “BTS 2021 MUSTER SOWOOZOO” and most recently “Permission to Dance On Stage”. How does working on these online gigs compare to “Bang Bang Con: The Live”?

Mike Schabel: I would be lying if I said it got easier. None of the events have been easier than the last. Our commitment to providing BTS and ARMYs with an amazing experience gets harder and harder every time. There are always more fans. There is always a new feature. The show is always bigger and more daring. And to be honest, I wouldn’t have done it any other way. We push the limits of our platform with every gig so BTS can push their creative limits. I’m so impressed with BTS’s deep engagement with their fans and how they try to give them more.

RELATED: BTS Permission to Dance on Stage – LA Concerts Sold Out Already

Showbiz cheat sheet: After having successfully set up “Permission to Dance On Stage”, can you share what you or your company learned the most from this experience?

Mike Schabel: There are still important lessons about the platform and how we can improve things, make them more efficient, more robust, etc., and how we can provide a better experience for fans. But that’s probably not of interest to readers. After each event, however, we are reminded of how lucky we are to support BTS and ARMY. It is a privilege to support their growth and success, and we always hope to have the opportunity to support them again.

Mike Schabel on the future of live streaming

Showbiz cheat sheet: With the return of in-person events, what does the future of streaming and interactive video experiences look like?

Mike Schabel: I’m so excited for this to happen! This is the opportunity we originally wanted to seize when we created the company, and now we will have the opportunity to truly innovate. I’m so excited to see how we can mix the in-person audience with the home audience to create something really powerful.

Showbiz cheat sheet: Is there something you hope to accomplish next?

Mike Schabel: Fortunately, we are moving at such a rapid pace that anything billed as the next achievement will be behind us by the time this article is published. So let me talk about where we want to end up instead. Home audiences are huge and are served today with content designed for television that assumes a monolithic audience. We know that real audiences encompass a wide range of demographic interests, they want to participate, they want to be recognized for their fandom, and they want to matter.

We believe this can happen for all live content, be it music, sports, news, talk shows, etc. If we can help bring this vision of video to the industry, then we will have accomplished what we set out to do.

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