StreamGM 2021 Summary
Yes, we know…. It is a cliche, but 2021 really has flown by!
A mere 12 months ago this very week, team StreamGM were in the midst of pre-promotion and gearing up to broadcast a 24-hour Hacienda NYE live stream to the world.
Our amazing Hacienda event was watched by millions, uniting ravers virtually together, from all corners of the earth during a truly bleak and lonely new year eve.
The 24-hour Hacienda House Party was EPIC. With live sets from Moby, David Morales, DJ Paulette, Todd Terry, Peter Hook, DJ Woody, Greg Wilson and Hacienda Classical, we trended number 1 in the UK for hours on Twitter and raised 100k for good causes.
This was United We Stream GM’s finale production for what was a truly ground-breaking nine months of fundraising and live production during the most challenging of times.
On Jan 01 2021, the elated team retreated wearily into our snow capped, digital caves to hibernate for two, well earned months…
We emerged in March 2021, bright eyed and bushy tailed, and met up to discuss the big question: ‘what on earth do we do now?’
It was unanimous…
The show must go on, well - the project must, but not as UWS…
United We Stream was a moment that can never be repeated or returned to.
We didn’t need to fundraise for the sector anymore. Greater Manchester cultural communities needed promotion and support through restrictions and reopening, and as a creative team we wanted to continue working together, to be at the forefront of the evolution of live-streaming.
United We Stream GM became StreamGM.
The focus with StreamGM has moved to more creative and original livestreams, and highlighting the diversity and quality of Greater Manchester talent, as opposed to raising money for the sector during Coronavirus lockdowns.
Our metamorphosis included a new logo, new branding, a sexy new website, mission statement, objectives and a proper plan!
StreamGM launched at Digital Cities Festival in April 2020 with a series of special commissions and showcases, including a panel discussion about the legacy of lockdown streaming featuring our very own co-founder: Marie-Claire Daly.
Our first ever talent showcase FLOW included: performance artist Cheddar Gorgeous, StreamGM’s favourite turntablist DJ Woody (who smashed his unique, video set about Manchester music out of the park!) punk band Loose Articles, singer/songwriter Prima, the brilliant Lynchs, Parkour champion Adam Marr, spoken word artists Seymour and Reece Williams.
DJ Woody on the ones & twos
Prima on StreamGM’s Flow
Since the launch, StreamGM focussed on brand and business development, and has continued to produce original and engaging content to showcase the region’s vibrant culture.
We developed a business plan to set out the future direction for the organisation (very professional, eh?) and over the course of the year we live-streamed some ace events to showcase & support the fragile culture and nightlife sector through restrictions and re-openings.
Oh, and we won a few awards too!
CIPR Award 2021
As well as winning Best Digital Marketing Campaign award from the Northern Digital Awards in Jan 21, in June StreamGM was given a National CIPR award for Excellence in Arts, Culture, Sport or Entertainment Campaign, beating the Natural History Museum, Playstation 5 and EE. The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) is the world's only Royal Chartered professional body for public relations practitioners in the UK, so this was a truly amazing accolade for our publicity lead.
On top of this we also won a Royal Television Society North West Award for Best Digital Creativity in November, beating off stiff competition from: Hollyoaks, Granada Reports and BBC Bitesize. Again, all truly ace stuff!
But we didn’t just win awards and write tres important business plans…. we wanted to use our powers for good in other ways…..
In July we coupled up with award winning digital publishers The Manc to show love to our region’s nightclubs, theatres and live music venues as they reopened properly for the first time in over 16 months.
We created #SeeGM, a month long, upbeat social media campaign packed with engaging videos, quotes and social media assets encouraging people back into venues once restrictions were lifted.
#SeeGM was backed by The Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham and included contributions from industry leaders such as: Aaron Mellor (Tokyo Industries) Steve Freeman (Royal Exchange Theatre) Graeme Park (DJ and producer), actresses Nicole Barber Lane and Faye Brookes.
Andy Burnham said: “People across Greater Manchester had sacrificed so much over the past year or so and I know how much people were looking forward to getting back out properly and enjoying the likes of live music, theatre and our nightlife.
“Our night-time economy suffered significantly over this time, with businesses often unable to open at all, SeeGM supported the safe reopening of our local and much loved venues.”
Renowned DJ and FAC51 The Hacienda resident, Graeme Park agreed: "I was excited about getting back to playing live again to full dancefloors after over a year of livestreams and the occasional socially distanced gig with very limited numbers.
“Live events are hugely important for the mental health of both performers and audiences alike,.
“Connecting with people at varied and inclusive DJ gigs, music gigs, theatre productions and festivals is crucial to everyone's well being, our local culture and of course, both the local and national economies.
“SeeGM inspired everyone to look forward to dancing together again and experience the live performances that are part of the very fabric of our society."
Many local operators who were featured in the SeeGM series saw a surge in their social media engagement and increase in awareness of events taking place in their venues.
Dave Foran director of Lion Den grass roots music venue and bar in the Great Northern on Deansgate said: “Honestly the amount of people who came into the Den in July and August and mentioned seeing the SeeGM video about local music venues and info about our events, was amazing!”
The Manc’s Brand Director Anna Gledson said: “Greater Manchester is the city of 24-hour party people. We were keen to encourage people to take to social media to post both their happy memories of times spent at gigs, shows and events gone by, as well as share their first experiences of heading ‘out-out’ after 19 July, all while promoting being kind and respectful to staff, other audience members, and partygoers.”
StreamGM also got back to doing what we do best,broadcasting shows from Manchester International Festival including impressive live performances from Billy No Mates and Henge and a high energy shindig with Homoelectric featuring our fave DJ’s: Gina Breeze, Will Tramp and Luke Unabomber - live from Manchester’s Festival Square.
In July we had the absolutely pleasure of broadcasting Unconvention - a renowned, two day music event that brings together artists, professionals and organisations from the independent music sector. UnConvention was held at Manchester Ritz with a myriad of speakers and performers, including: Frank Turner, Ed O’Brien from Radiohead and Mogwai's Stuart Braithwaite, Laurie Vincent (Slaves), Sara Leigh Shaw (The Pearl Harts), Andy Carthy (Mr Scruff), Kapil Seshasayee, John Robb (The Membranes), Elisabeth Elektra, Steve Lawson, LNA, and Stewart Baxter (LIFE).
Mark Davyd and Beverley Whitrick from the Music Venues Trust and SJM music manager Conrad Murray took part in panels on the current state of the independent sector along with representatives from the Association of Independent Festivals, Music Managers Forum, Music Publishers Association, Featured Artists Coalition and Musicians’ Union.
Then in September we broadcasted the first ever GM Pride, the first ever digital Pride event co-created by all ten Greater Manchester boroughs, which was produced by Greater Manchester’s LGBTQ+ adviser Carl Austin-Behan OBE and Barry Priest.
Carl explained: “Due to the uncertainty of live events being able to take place this year, the Greater Manchester Pride Network wanted to make sure that our LGBTQ+ community could still engage with their respected communities in a meaningful way.”
Broadcasting live from Pop in Hyde #GMDigitalPride featured ten hours of performances from the likes of Rowetta, Cheddar Gorgeous and Lacuna J and short films celebrating the diversity of Greater Manchester’s LGBTQ+ community.
StreamGM continues to share content on our social media platforms from partners across the globe who are all at different stages of reopening (and unfortunately closing) due to the global pandemic.
Alongside our partners in Berlin, we are proudly leading on the formation of the United We Stream Global Association, bringing together the 115 cities involved in the 2020 UWS movement into a formal network to share content, best practice and resources, making the most of the connections formed during the pandemic as we edge slowly forward into recovery.
The Creative Industries Policy Centre have also worked with us on a special research project looking at the future of live streaming, with a report due to be completed and published by January, 2022.
StreamGM audience figures are still high, with more than 700,000 global views between March and December 2021.
In the New Year StreamGM will start programming activity again, with a series of livestreams highlighting the very best culture and music in Greater Manchester to global audiences, experiment with new technology including the launch of our ‘digitally connected dancefloor’, and partner with other UWS cities on funding bids and collaborative projects.
The team want to high five and thank everyone who has supported, shared, collaborated and contributed in the continuation of StreamGM over the last twelve months.
We genuinely love what we do, and we will be doing even more of it in 2022.
Have a safe and peaceful Christmas,
With love, from Manchester,
MCD, GW, JC, LG & CM
Team StreamGM X
Audience figures are still high, with more than 700,000 global views between March and December 2021. In the New Year StreamGM will start programming activity again, with a series of livestreams highlighting the very best culture in Greater Manchester to global audiences, while partnering with other UWS cities on funding bids and collaborative projects.