CHICAGO (Hypebot) – PandoDaily's David Holmes tells the story of Jimmy Chamberlin's transformation from Smashing Pumpkins drummer to tech startup CEO. Chamberlin says he found the same energy in today's startup scene as he did in 90s indie rock. Chamberlin was getting into tech investing when he found out about LiveOne. After a stint as Director of Partnerships for LiveOne he became CEO.
LiveOne is the parent company of livestreaming social media application CrowdSurfing. LiveOne and CrowdSurfing have mostly stayed behind the scenes from what I can tell.
LiveOne describes their CrowdSurfing application as:
"an easily integrated addition to real-time video or audio content. CrowdSurfing instantly transforms a static web page into a customizable, real-time social network that complements and enhances any content with any video player on any device."
So it's been more about the event and the names supporting the event than about promoting CrowdSurfing's brand.
LiveOne CEO Jimmy Chamberlin, renowned drummer for The Smashing Pumpkins, told PandoDaily that CrowdSurfing has increased engagement with livestreamed events.
Chamberlin explains that he connected with LiveOne via the Chicago tech scene where he got to know the Groupon team. He found out about CrowdSurfing and LiveOne through meetings related to his tech investment activities. In 2012 he joined LiveOne as Director of Partnerships and later became CEO.
LiveOne and CrowdSurfing don't just focus on music, they're interested in livestreamed events of all sorts. But use by musicians is one that has yet to reveal the promise one sees with sports.
Combined with today's news from Samsung about Gear VR and Vevo streaming, CrowdSurfing's approach suggests that we may soon be seeing more of the potential of livestreaming music.