Instant Concert: Concert Window’s New Busk App Lets Musicians Broadcast Anything, Anywhere with a Single Tap

You’re sitting in the tour bus together, having a blast and trying out some new tunes. A tap of the app, and this impromptu moment goes straight to the web. It’s as easy as opening up a guitar case on the street corner and breaking into song.

This is Busk, the beautifully intuitive, free app from the live webcasting platform Concert Window and launching February 18, 2015. The app will be unveiled at this year’s Folk Alliance in Kansas City, and Concert Window and Concert Window users will be broadcasting via the app as much as possible from the roots-music meet up.

Busk gives artists an easy way to put their world and their music online. Musicians can use their iPad or iPhone to broadcast from anywhere, doing anything, to their fans. A jam on the tour bus becomes a way to whip up excitement for a scheduled web show or in-person performance.The first chords of a brand-new song, a spontaneous outbreak of song around a dinner table all go straight to an artist’s channel on Concert Window, where fans can purchase tickets, comment, leave tips, and interact in the same way they would with a show from a laptop or a streaming-equipped venue.

“We’re always looking for the next way to make something that will help and encourage musicians,” notes Concert Window’s head of artist outreach Emma Beaton. “We heard from artists that they were often making videos on their tablets and phones, so it felt like the right time to make an app.” It is the only music-related app of its kind currently on the market.

The performances may be spontaneous, but the results can startle: They often sound better than a USB mic-powered laptop-based show does. “The mics on many new smartphones are remarkably good at dealing with background noise,” explains Beaton, who road-tested the app by doing everything from strumming guitar to walking down the street to get a cup of coffee. “We tried it out on a variety of instruments, like cello and accordion, and made tweaks accordingly.”

Busk has already sparked some wonderfully wild ideas in Concert Window users eager to expand their broadcasting possibilities. “One of our favorite musicians can’t wait to strap his phone on a helmet and ride into the forest,” says Beaton. “I can’t wait to hear what users do with the app, what they make.”

About Concert Window:

Concert Window is a live music network that enables musicians to broadcast live to fans around the world. Home to Grammy winners, major label artists, and everyone in between, Concert Window is a new revenue source for musicians and offers "the most original content on the Internet." (Rebecca Loebe)

Last year the company paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars to artists, with gross revenues increasing sevenfold in the last 14 months, building the community through word-of-mouth rather than advertising. Concert Window removes many of the logistical uncertainties that plague musicians and allows them to connect with fans   anywhere in the world.