For seven months Kenyans have been clued to their television sets watching updates on Coronavirus outbreak, as their favourite shows take off screens due to the social distancing call and stay at home directives to curb the spread of the pandemic.
Artists, musicians and comedians have been forced to take off theatre and embrace the new technology, working from home as they entertain their supporters, but things have not be working towards their revenue share, as most used to depend on tickets sold during concerts.
Kenya’s most prolific lough industry production Churchill show that has wooed millions Kenyans is among the shows that lost audience when cinema doors were closed in March.
But as technology takes into effect in this New Normal era, things could be back to business for comedians and musicians hoping to make a living out of their talents, thanks to a new platform –OnZoom, introduced by the video calling App Zoom.
According to BBC, the new spin-off platform is launching in beta with live events for fitness, music, and art online events.
The company added event discovery and monetisation features for online versions of “traditionally in-person events” and tickets can be sold for events with up to 1,000 attendees.
The move comes after the COVID-19 pandemic forced people to change their way of life by adapting to the new technology.
“People are doing reiki sessions online, yoga online, medical consultations over video calls. That has got people very excited about the idea of being able to scale up what were events that were dependent on how many people you could get through your door,” explains Joseph Evans, head of technology at Enders Analysis.
Another inspiration for OnZoom is directly linked to the sudden boom in businesses using the company service during lockdown earlier this year.
Zoom said it could facilitate other classically in-person things such as concerts, stand-up comedy shows, and music lessons.
