Live Music, Fans Returning To WiZink Center: New Slate Of Shows Include More Tech And An Audience

The operators of WiZink Center in the Spanish capital, Madrid, announced they have confirmed several artists for paid livestreamed concerts that will be performed before at least some fans inside the building.

Working with the venue’s managing company, Impulsa Eventos e Instalaciones, as well as telecommunications company Telefónica, the plan is to take the concept of live streams to another level.

To help with that, the venue has installed production you’d expect when broadcasting popular sports events but not necessarily concerts.

The performance will be recorded with at least six television cameras, usually intended for sporting events — including stationary cameras, polecams and rail cams — that offer different perspectives of what is happening on stage.

“The streaming system will ensure the quality of the service, regardless (of) the bandwidth the spectator has. To avoid illegal recordings and (network hacks), the security of the circuit will be reinforced with Akamai and Token technologies, which will allow for the immediate revoking of access if the user is not authorized or fake,” the announcement said.

The goal is to offer fans “impossible perspectives in face‐to‐face concerts,”  bringing them as close to the artist as possible without being physically present.

Exclusive content, showing artists preparing in the moments before a concert,  as well as ways to contact the artist after a show, are part of the offering.

A company rep told VenuesNow that a limited number of guests will be allowed on site at the venue. “In fact, most of the concerts we have already confirmed and signed are in the mixed format: a stream with an audience inside the venue.

“We still don’t know the exact number of people we will have inside, because this depends on the government regulations and on the phase we are in (on) the date of the concert.”

The Spanish government is reopening the country in two-week phases. If everything proceeds as planned, the beginning of July will mark phase three. In an ideal world, WiZink Center will then be allowed to operate at 50% capacity again, which would mean 8,500 people inside the building.

Plans call for the first concerts to be announced in the next few days.