Review of Stageit

This is a review of the online service Stageit. Stageit allows artists to hold online shows controlling the cost and other attributes of performing.

Learning Stageit

I stumbled upon Stageit via Pomplamoose and their Facebook feed. The advertisement said a live concert was being held in 15 minutes and I was excited.

Clicking on the link too me to Stageit where I had a very short time to learn the following:

1. Ticket – You have to buy a ticket and my show was pay as much as you want.
2. Notes – Notes are the currency of Stageit. They cost .10 a piece and your initial cost is $5.00 since you need to buy 50.
3. No Archives – If you miss your show, you miss your show. Stageit doesn’t archive the shows, so you cannot rewatch them.

Participating on Stageit

As the clock counted down, I participated in a live chat with other people attending the concert. The chat controls are very basic, so if something flies off the screen good luck. Still, it was interesting chatting with other people who follow Pomplamoose.

As the concert started three things happened that made the night fantastic:

1. Tipping – Remember those notes you buy? Well, you can tip the artist during the performance. Natalie used this to drive a contest. Whoever tipped the most would win. People went nuts and this was enforced by Stageit always letting us know who the top tippers were at the moment.
2. Chatting – I thought chatting would be stupid, but it was great. The context of it being a living room and people offering their feelings and opinions of the music. Somehow this made the experience more engaging to me. Again, the chat controls are basic, but they were good enough.
3. Interactivity – Interacting with the artist really pushed it over the top. Many times during the concert Natalie would turn and ask for feedback or comments on what she was performing. At one point she became distracted by the chat and had to start the song again. This actually added to the fun.

The quality of the concert was fine for me. Full screen video with no lag or blockiness. The sound was timed right, but Natalie had a few times where she set the sound improperly. Again, the chat room helped since she could see the instant feedback. Someone from the UK had a n issue with choppy video, but that was the only complaint I saw.

Stageit offers a great experience for anyone to participate in a concert with a performer they enjoy. I don’t know if all artists interact like Natalie from Pomplamoose did, but I sure hope so.