livexlive.com
Music is one of the most powerful and pervasive forms of art. Throughout history, people have relied on music for its important role in cultural customs, daily enjoyment, artistic expression, and as a means of making life, in general, more enjoyable. We dance to it, exercise to it, work to it, and share moments through it with friends, family members, and significant others. There is truly nothing quite like the experience of listening to music - live or recorded!
The live music experience is definitely something special. Concerts can bring people together in a way that no other type of art does. They can create an intense energy that is hard to replicate any other way. For example, think about some of the historic and unforgettable live concert experiences from the past, like Woodstock or Coachella. These events show how exciting and fulfilling concerts can be for a lot of people.
There are many great live concert experiences to be had online.
A concert is like no other. In addition to listening to music streaming services, it makes sense to have one that caters specifically to live performances. Because, well, sometimes we can't make it to legendary performances from our favorite artists. But in the 21st century, that doesn't mean we have to miss out on them. There are a lot of great live concert experiences available online.
Thankfully, there's finally a music streaming service that not only allows us to listen to prerecorded music from our favorite artists, but also allows us to tune into exclusive live performances. Thanks to Live x Live (pronounced ?Live by Live?), we never have to miss an epic performance. Not only does this service offer traditional music streaming capabilities, but it also offers plenty of live video streaming, putting us in the front row of the best concerts that we can't be in attendance of.
History
Live x Live was founded by Celite Milbrandt and Dennis Mudd in 2004, but the company didn't launch officially until March of 2007. Dennis Mudd, who was formerly the CEO of Music Match (which was acquired by Yahoo Music and rebranded as Yahoo Music Radio) used this funding to forge Live x Live as his next endeavor.
In 2007, Live x Live announced that it had struck deals with the four major music labels: Universal, EMI, Warner, and Sony BMG Music Entertainment. Plus, Live x Live made sure not to overlook the smaller companies, having purchased the rights to plenty of songs from thousands of indie labels.
In late 2017, Live x Live purchased the Slacker radio streaming platform. This would allow the company to expand its services, including the introduction of a new online radio station creation algorithm. With this strategic purchase, Live x Live increased the number of services it offered, now enabling the company to stream tons of live content, recorded content, and the ability for users to create their own personalized radio stations based on their listening habits.
Thus, the Live x Live we know and love today came into being.
Design
Whoever is using the Live x Live website or app today is getting a great experience. The platform is easy to use, professional-looking, and runs smoothly on all of the different devices we tested it on. Whether you're browsing exclusive video interviews, live performances, or just listening to the audio, everything looks great and works flawlessly.
The website is sleek and well-organized, with drop-down menus that expand on the fly and allow for more customization. On the app, it is user-friendly with tab-based navigation that rivals apple music or Spotify. The black and green theme gives the site a modern look, and quickly navigate through videos, songs, radio stations, and albums with just a quick click or tap.
Content
As I just touched upon a little bit, Live x Live offers exclusive live performances from all of your favorite artists, as well as one of a kind interviews which gives this streaming service an element of music journalism, that no other audio streaming platform really provides. This is just one of the many features that makes Live x Live a very unique platform, more for the hardcore music fan than the average casual pop radio listener.
Live x Live offers a variety of original content, which is different from other music streaming sites. This content includes live performances and interviews with artists, as well as series about the lives of touring musicians and music fans. Additionally, there are interesting takes on different music-related subjects that you won't find on other sites.
Fest Life and Festival Stories are two exclusive series that focus on music festivals and the people who attend them. Music festivals can be a lifestyle for some people in North America, so these series are an incredible and rare look at the festival scene only Live x Live offers.
There are eight other video series that subscribers can explore, most of which feature the Live x Live staff on location at various concerts, festivals, and embedded into the cultures of certain musical genres (especially those that have a cult following, such as EDM). I love this aspect of Live x Live because it's something truly original in the world of music streaming services - this journalistic bent.
Desktop and Mobile Experience
I previously said that both the desktop and mobile experiences were top-notch, with design being one of the few areas where I couldn't decide which I preferred more.
Of the 17,000 ratings on the Apple Store, the Live x Live app has an average score of 4.7 stars. This is quite impressive, as streaming apps go.
Pricing and Plans
The three membership levels are Basic, with no ads; Live x Live Radio Plus, with some ads but no track exclusives; and Live x Live Radio Premium, with no ads and exclusive tracks.
Although the service has some limitations, the basic service comes with a lot of features that make it great. You can listen to premade radio stations and create your own, but you can only skip 6 songs per hour. And there are ads every 5-7 songs. The peak audio quality offered here is 128kbit/s.
Live x Live Radio Plus is only $3.99/month and offers unlimited skips, no ads, and top audio quality that is equal to standard CD quality: 320kbit/s.
Finally, there is a Live x Live Radio Premium subscription service for $9.99/month. This will give you everything that Plus subscribers get, as well as offline listening and the ability to play specific songs on demand. Unfortunately, Premium is only available through iTunes.
Suggestions that I have for Live x Live
Although I like the idea of Live x Live's premium subscription, I think that it would be a good idea to offer more money for it. For one, the ?available only through iTunes? aspect is a bit disappointing. Why should I have to download and create an account for a separate app when I am paying $10 a month to get the service?
There is no increase in sound quality when upgrading from Plus to Premium. The only thing that you really get extra with Premium is the ability to play songs on demand. I say it would be better if they combined Plus and Premium into a two-tier subscription at, say, $7.99 a month. There's no need for this third option that doesn't do much.
Conclusion
There is no other audio streaming platform out there that offers exclusive live performances and interviews like Live x Live does. If you're a true fan of audio streaming, this is the app for you!
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