I don’t think a week goes by when I don’t have one or other of these conversations….

“Rachel, why isn’t this concert live-streamed?” And then something like this is said…. “You could increase your audience, you know.” or “I’m sure you could make more money…” or something like that.

Or then the other one… “So why can’t we see one of the live-streamed concerts live?” And then this is followed with “I don’t really like streaming.” or “I can’t hear it so well…” yada yada.

For every concert I do, I ask the other artists what they’d like to do, and mostly take their choice. Or I ask Ben (who does all the tech for me) if he’s happy to stream. Because the gear that is needed to stream is huge, and the care, and the set-up is incredibly time-consuming.

Some musicians don’t really like streaming. Most of us love to play live – to get the feedback from the audience. To hear things going on in the room – not just the applause, but also the sighing, or the reactions.

So thank you for your concern that I need bigger audiences (I’m happy with the audience I get, thanks), or more money (the money isn’t actually that different). And if you must know, I am (and always have been) someone who will only take direction from a very few trusted people. You’ll know if you are one of them.

I’ll just keep noodling along, thanks. On my own terms. And stream, or not, as the mood takes me.