Dirtybird spent 15 years creating a close-knit community via electronic music, live events, and a spirit of intense dedication to their fans. Then came COVID.
The label/lifestyle brand decided to launch a flock of livestream channels, Dirtybird LIVE, featuring a daily livestream schedule packed with label friends and family. To help their fanbase keep track of who was on when, Dirtybird teamed up with the freshly launched OnNow.tv, a platform-agnostic guide to everything livestreaming in music and beyond.
“We hear a lot from our fans and we knew they needed the community aspect,” once live events weren’t an option, notes Aundy Caldwell Crenshaw, COO/CMO of Dirtybird. “We wanted to present something unique and different, not just livestream parties or DJs sets. Like our live events, music and DJs are the center, but we round it out with lots of elements.”
These events include quirky talk shows, curated streaming sets, unexpected guests and features, stand up and sketch comedy, and even cooking and yoga classes. For example, Berlin-based house producer and vocalist Kevin Knapp will present PLUMP’D, teaching viewers, among other things, to prepare delicious food at home. (Premiere: September 12) These elements all played a part in past Dirtybird Campout events, and it felt like a fun and logical extension of the label to incorporate them into a new medium.
Livestreaming has interactive possibilities that dovetail with the way the label has long structured its relationships with the people who love its music and artists. Dirtybird is asking its fans to send in video to create a new, crowdsourced late night livestream, “the weirder the better.” Label founder Claude VonStroke hosts Fresh or Fowl, a talk show that features VonStroke going through his vinyl crates, playing music, and encouraging viewers to vote whether the track is great or not.
“Dirtybird is the perfect partner for OnNow.tv,” says OnNow.tv’s co-founder and CEO Matthew Adell, who knows the dance music world well from his time leading Beatport. “They have always taken a creative approach to music and events that is truly fan-centric. They are building an entire schedule of great, live things to watch. This kind of exploratory, open-minded vision is what will turn livestreaming from a niche or a stopgap into a new way to express and entertain. We want people to find and enjoy more of these moments.” Dirtybird fans can set up an OnNow.tv WatchList and get notifications of when their must-catch artist or show is streaming, as well as discover other new favorite livestreams under Dirtybird’s wing.
“We’re building a live broadcast network, and it’s going to be filled with unexpected moments,” says Crenshaw. “We want to come out of this stronger and in a better position with our fanbase, and we knew OnNow.tv would help us build this new connection with them.” In addition to streaming ongoing for 40 hours a week, Dirtybird is planning a Dirtybird Couchout (the 2020 answer to the Dirtybird Campout) for a full week of live streaming starting Friday, Oct 2nd. “It’s going to be 13 hours a day over the weekend and a Couchout takeover extended throughout the week with our normal schedule,” Crenshaw explains. “We’re looking forward to getting our artists and our fans together over what would have been Dirtybird Campout weekend.”
