14 STREAMPUNK Live Music
livestreaming challenge. United We Stream is a tried-and-tested concept, which started in Berlin to sustain the city’s illustrious rave culture and techno club nights during lockdown, and it’s a model that is now being used in other cities around the world. Sacha Lord, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s (GMCA) night-time economic advisor, worked around the clock
Manchester economy alive. The Greater Manchester area, which is made up of boroughs Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the cities of Manchester and Salford, is very good at coming together in the face of adversity. We’ve helped each other through the IRA bombing, the Ariana Grande concert bombing and we’ll help each other through this.” McKevitt’s team was chosen by the GMCA to produce and broadcast United We Stream for Manchester, because it was important to have a team that is passionate about the city at the centre of it. It was also because Salford University’s media production team is student-led; there’s a young, energetic and multiskilled talent within it that you wouldn’t necessarily find from the big broadcasters. “I’m 46, I’m an old fart really,” admits McKevitt. “But the team around me have absolutely narrowed the digital skills gap, which is a big problem at the moment. My camera operator knows how to edit and direct a live stream; and my stream engineer knows how to create graphics and run a camera. Whereas the BBC, for example, would have 20 different people all focussed on their individual jobs. And there’s a reason for that; they’re producing high-quality broadcast content. But we’re in a different time now. The content doesn’t have to be polished, it just has to be authentic – and the best thing about what we’re doing is that it’s engaging.”
with his Berlin counterparts, the GMCA and Salford University’s media production team to enable Greater Manchester to become the second city in the world to launch the concept. Colin McKevitt, director of Salford University’s media production team, says: “Sacha was quick to recognise that this is what we needed to keep our vibrant
THE CONTENT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE POLISHED. IT JUST HAS TOBE AUTHENTIC
SOUND OF MUSIC Venues’ broadcast galleries usually have an occupancy of eight to ten people, but now just two people run the shows
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