Photo Credit: Coachella
Coachella is blowing out its YouTube livestream coverage—all six stages will be broadcast for the first time.
Coachella will be live on YouTube across all six stages on both weekends, starting April 14 at 4pm PT, and continuing through April 21. Performances will be made available each night after the event’s live stream ends, so many of the top-billed acts for Coachella 2023 will also be available on demand.
Bad Bunny, Blackpink, and Frank Ocean are headlining this year’s Coachella festival. Additional appearances include Rosalía, Becky G, Gorillaz, Burna Boy, Wet Leg, Metro Boomin, and many more.
Coachella expanded its partnership with YouTube last year to include pre-parties and merch purchasing options for livestream viewers. This year will see those fan-oriented experiences available again with exclusive content from Blackpink and other artists.
The hip-hop group Brockhampton tested the exclusive YouTube merch tie-in last year. During their live performance, viewers could click on a link or scan a QR code to purchase t-shirts through the Coachella store—all without leaving the livestreamed concert on YouTube.
“We’re always trying to deepen the roots [with] fans and artists, and one of the best ways that you could do it is through merchandise,” said Lyor Cohen, YouTube’s Global Head of Music about the new vertical integration of merch. “The whole idea of exclusive merch drops is just so fans and artists could have more intersections together.”
It takes the experience of stopping by the merch booth at any concert and buying a t-shirt digitally. Of course, you don’t get the instant gratification of wearing the t-shirt home or having it in-hand immediately—but exclusive merch is exclusive merch. YouTube’s vertical merch integration isn’t being used just by the music industry, either. Last year YouTube included retailers like Walmart, Samsung, and Verizon for its Holiday Stream and Shop promotion. Events like that help get consumers primed to make a purchase via a YouTube video.