LiveOne Profile
LiveOne, Inc. (LiveOne) engages in the acquisition, distribution, and monetization of live music, Internet radio, podcasting, and music-related streaming and video content.
The company is a creator-first, music, entertainment and technology platform focused on delivering premium experiences and content worldwide through memberships and live and virtual events. The company, through its comprehensive service offerings and innovative content platform, provides music fans the ability to listen, watch, attend, engage and transact.
The company’s operating model focuses on a flywheel concept of integrated services centered on servicing and monetizing superfans through multiple revenue streams and product/service offerings. As of March 31, 2022, the company operated five core integrated services, such as one of the industry’s leading online live music streaming platforms (LiveOne); a fully integrated membership and advertising streaming music service Slacker, Inc. (Slacker) operating as LiveOne powered by Slacker; a leading podcasting platform operating as PodcastOne (PodcastOne); producer of original music-related content, including live music festivals, concerts and events through React Presents LLC (React Presents); and a retailer of personalized merchandise and gifts operating as Custom Personalization Solutions, Inc. (CPS). LiveOne is the first ‘live social music network, delivering premium live-streamed, digital audio and on-demand music experiences from the world’s top music festivals, concerts and events, including having worked with Rock in Rio, Electronic Daisy Carnival (EDC) Las Vegas, iHeartRadio’s Wango Tango and many more. LiveOne enhances the experience by granting audiences access to premium original content, artist exclusives and industry interviews. The company’s LiveOne application offers users access to live events, audio streams with access to millions of songs and hundreds of expert-curated radio platforms and stations, original episodic content, podcasts, vodcasts, video on demand, real-time livestreams, and social sharing of content. In October 2021, the company entered artist and brand development and music-related press relations business through its acquisition of Gramophone.
The company generates revenue through the sale of membership-based services and advertising from its music offerings, from the licensing, advertising and sponsorship of its live music and podcast content rights and services, from its expanding pay-per-view offerings, from retail sales of merchandise and gifts and expects to generate revenue from ticket sales as live events return post- novel coronavirus disease (COVID 19) pandemic and other revenue streams.
Operations
The company provides services through a dedicated over-the-top application powered by Slacker (LiveOne App) called LiveOne. The company’s services are delivered through digital streaming transmissions over the Internet and/or through satellite transmissions and may be accessed on users’ desk-top, tablets, mobile devices (iOS, Android), Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire, and through over-the-top (OTT), STIRR, and XUMO with more service platforms in discussions. The company’s users can also access its music platform from its websites, including www.liveone.com and www.slacker.com. The company’s users may also access its podcasts on www.podcastone.com or its PodcastOne app and acquire merchandise and gifts on www.personalizedplanet.com and www.limogesjewelry.com.
Historically, the company acquired the rights to stream its live and recorded music and broadcasts from a combination of festival owners and promoters, such as Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) and Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (Live Nation), music labels, including Universal Music, Warner Music and Sony Music, and through individual music publishers and rights holders. In March 2019, the company entered into a multi-year agreement with iHeartMedia that combines content, production, distribution and promotion, which was further extended in March 2020, giving it exclusive global livestreaming rights to over 20 of their events per year. In May 2020, the company launched its first pay-per-view (PPV) performances across its platform, allowing artists and fans to access a new digital compliment to live festivals, concerts and events.
The majority of the company’s content acquisition agreements provide it the exclusive rights to produce, license, broadcast and distribute live broadcast streams of these festivals and events throughout the world and across any digital platform, including cable, Internet, video, audio, video-on-demand (VOD) and virtual reality (VR). The company is working to expand its VOD, PPV, content catalog and content capabilities. Since 2018, the company launched LiveZone, a traveling studio originating from live music events and festivals all over the world. LiveZone combines music news, commentary, festival updates and artist interviews, and provide context to premiere events by showcasing exotic locales, unique venues, and artist backstories, adding pre-show and post-show segments to livestreamed artist performances and original festival-based content. During fiscal years ended March 31, 2022 and 2021, the company launched its own franchises, including Music Lives, its multi-artist virtual festival, Music Lives ON, its weekly series of virtual live-streaming performances, Self Made its music competition platform, The Lockdown Awards, its award show celebrating the best in quarantine content, The Snubbys, its award show celebrating deserving artists who should have been but were not nominated for applicable awards, and The Breakout Awards, its award show celebrating some of the year’s most iconic music, celebrities and pop culture moments.
In February 2020, the company acquired React Presents, giving it the capability to produce and stream over 200 events annually, including React Presents’ tent pole festival Spring Awakening. In July 2020, the company entered the podcasting business with the acquisition of PodcastOne and in December 2020, it entered the merchandising business with the acquisition of CPS. In October 2021, the company entered artist and brand development and music-related press relations business through its acquisition of Gramophone Media, Inc. (Gramophone).
During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022, the company livestreamed 126 major music festivals and live music events and generated approximately 54 million views worldwide, and as of March 31, 2022, the company’s membership services eclipsed 1,481,000 paid members and approximately 0.8 million monthly active users (MAUs) across its audio services. Included in the total number as of March 31, 2022, are certain members which are the subject of a contractual dispute. The company uses MAUs, which is a non- generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) financial measure, as a measure of its audience reach and define a MAU as a user of one of its platforms who has logged in and visited its music membership platform, as a unique user, on the day of measurement.
Live Music Events
The company produces, edits, curates and streams live music events through broadband transmission over the Internet and/or satellite networks to its users throughout the world, where permitted (Digital Live Events) both advertisers supported and PPV events, and physical ticket sales of on-location music events and festivals at a variety of indoor clubs and outdoor venues and arenas (On-premise Live Events). These services allow the company’s users to access live music content in person and over the Internet, including the ability to chat and communicate over its platform. LiveOne provides Digital Live Events for free to the company’s users; however, beginning in May 2020 it launched PPV capabilities and began charging its users to view certain Digital Live Events. The company monetizes these live events through third party advertising and sponsorship, including with brands, such as Volkswagen, Hyundai, Facebook, Tik Tok, Porsche, and Pepsi, and selling territorial licensing rights to Tencent in China and Ocesa in Mexico.
In February 2020, the company acquired React Presents, a Chicago based live music promoter, which promoted, produced and ran over 200 live events in 2019, including React Presents’ owned tent pole festival Spring Awakening.
Digital Internet Radio and Music Services
The company’s digital Internet radio and music services are available to users online and through automotive and mobile original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) on a white label basis, which allow certain OEMs to customize the radio and music services with their own logos, branding and systems. The company’s users are able to listen to a variety of music, radio personalities, news, sports, comedy and the audio of live music events. The company’s revenue structure for its digital Internet radio and music services varies and may be in the form of a free service to the listener supported by paid advertising; paid premium membership services, and/or; and a fixed fee per user. The fees generated from ad-supported and membership services are generally subject to revenue sharing arrangements with music right holders and labels, and fees to festivals, clubs, events, concerts, artists, promoters, venues, music labels and publishers (Content Providers).
Podcast Services
The company’s podcasts are available to users online alongside its digital Internet radio. The company’s users are able to listen to a variety of podcasts, from music, radio personalities, news, entertainment, comedy and sports. The podcasts are available on the LiveOne platforms and also on other leading podcast listening platforms, such as Apple Music, Spotify, and Amazon. Similar to its digital Internet radio fee structure, it monetizes podcasts through paid advertising or paid premium membership services. The company owns one of the largest networks of podcast content in North America, which has over 300 exclusive podcast shows that produces over 300 episodes per week and has generated over 2.48 billion downloads during the year ended March 31, 2022. In April 2021, the company announced an agreement with Samsung for all PodcastOne distributed content to be available via the Listen tab on Samsung TV.
In addition to PodcastOne’s core business, it built, owns and operates a solution for the growing number of independent podcasters, LaunchPadOne. LaunchPadOne is a self-publishing podcast platform, created to provide a low or no cost tool for independent podcasters without access to parent podcasting networks or state of the art equipment to create shows. LaunchPadOne serves as a talent pool for the company to find new podcasts and talent.
Merchandise
With the acquisition of CPS, the company owns a group of web-oriented businesses specializing in the merchandise personalization industry. CPS develops, manufactures, and distributes personalized products for wholesale and direct-to-consumer distribution. CPS offers thousands of exclusive personalized gift items for family, home, seasonal holidays, and special events along with personalized jewelry.
Ancillary Products and Services
The company also provides its customers the following:
Regulatory Support – Streaming of music is generally subject to copyright protection. Whenever possible, the company uses its best efforts to clear music copyright licenses, artist streaming preferences and music publishing rights in advance of usage.
Post-Implementation Support – once the company’s LiveOne App is activated, it provides technical and network support, which includes 24/7 operational assistance and monitoring of its services and performance.
Members
The company streams its music services for live events globally to music fans worldwide, and with users located in North America for its digital music streaming services. The company is developing plans to expand its music presence internationally. The company’s music streaming customers include individual users and OEMs, such as Tesla, Verizon, T-Mobile, and, to a lesser extent, advertisers and third-party licensees. In December 2021, the company also launched LiveOne on Google's Android Automotive platform, a full-stack, open source, highly customizable software platform powering the vehicle's numerous safety, environmental, and infotainment systems, enabling implementers to differentiate and tailor the content experience specific to a brand's identity. Android Automotive continues to see wide adoption from virtually all the major automotive OEMs, including Ford, GMC, Dodge, Chrysler, Volvo, Polestar, Ford, Lincoln, Chevrolet, Nissan, Volkswagen, Mitsubishi, and others. For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022, the company had one single customer that represented approximately 28% of its total consolidated revenue in the period.
The company provides live production and content curating and processing services to its festival and event partners on an exclusive basis, globally. These agreements are generally for three to seven years in duration. The company’s customers also include major cable networks, where it has historically agreed to share production costs for certain festivals.
Competition
The company’s competitors include broadcast radio providers, including terrestrial radio providers, such as CBS and satellite radio providers, such as Sirius XM; interactive on-demand audio content and pre-recorded entertainment, such as Apple Music, Amazon Music, Spotify and Pandora that allow listeners to stream music or select the audio content that they stream or purchase; podcast providers, including Amazon Music, Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and iHeartMusic; other forms of entertainment, including Facebook, Twitch, Instagram, Google/YouTube and Twitter; and promoters and producers of content on mobile, online and AR/VR (virtual reality) platforms, such as Red Bull TV, Live Nation TV and independent content owners. The company has livestreamed its music festivals and events across Facebook, YouTube and Twitch, and partnered with iHeartMedia to livestream multiple iHeart-sponsored events across its music platform, and its podcasts are available on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, and iHeartMusic, among others.
Music Copyright and Rights Regulation
As a participant in the global music and radio industries, the company is subject to a variety of copyright and regulatory obligations.
Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) – BMI is a bridge between songwriters and the business and organizations that want to play their music publicly. BMI supports businesses and organizations that play music publicly by offering blanket music licenses that permit them to play nearly 17 million musical works.
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) – ASCAP is a membership association of more than 800,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. ASCAP licenses songs and scores to the businesses that play them publicly.
SoundExchange, Inc. – SoundExchange collects and distributes digital performance royalties on behalf of more than 245,000 recording artists and master rights owners and licensees.
The Music Modernization Act (MMA) updated the copyright law to make statutory licensing more efficient for digital music providers. Under the new law, the United States of America (U.S.) Copyright Office has designated the Mechanical Licensing Collective, Inc. (The MLC) to collect and distribute mechanical royalty payments. As of January 1, 2021. LiveOne has a blanket license in place with the MLC that enables the company to make all songs delivered by its recorded music label partners available to its users in its music service upon delivery, eliminating any need for further rights clearances, making its service more robust and current.
Other performing right organizations.
Intellectual Property
The company owns 15 registered or pending patents on its streaming Internet radio services, including patents over playback of digital media content, method for providing user personalized content, systems for portable personalized radio, method for interactive distribution of digital content and systems for scoring and raking digital content based on activity of network users. The company also owns over 25 trademarks and trademark applications covering its various brands, channels and product names. In connection with the Slacker acquisition, the company acquired a trademark for the Slacker name.
Government Regulation
The company’s operations are subject to various federal, state and local laws statutes, rules, regulations, policies and procedures, both domestically and internationally, governing matters, such as:
the United States Foreign Corrupt Practice Act (the FCPA) and similar regulations and laws in other countries;
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) requirements;
privacy laws and protection of personally identifiable information;
marketing activities online; and
United States copyright laws.
History
LiveOne, Inc. was founded in 2009. The company was incorporated in the state of Nevada in 2009 and reincorporated in the state of Delaware in 2017. It was formerly known as LiveXLive Media, Inc. and changed its name to LiveOne, Inc. in 2021.
