Will music fans be game for Twitch’s new karaoke competition?
The Amazon-owned video game streaming platform, is popular with gamers who love to watch people play Fortnite. But now, Twitch could win over music fans with a karaoke competition announced on Friday called Twitch Sings: Stream Star.
Brave Twitch creators can sign up for the Twitch Sings karaoke platform, which is still in beta. They’ll have to submit a video version of a performance showcasing their vocals to one of the songs in the Twitch songbook.
It will then be up to a panel of judges at Twitch to whittle down the performances to eight semi-finalists. The Twitch community will then vote on the top four, who will get a free trip to TwitchCon Europe next month in Berlin, and the chance to compete onstage for a $20,000 grand prize.
Introducing Twitch Sings: Stream Star, our first EVER singing competition. Win a trip to TwitchCon Europe to compete, live on-stage, for $20,000.
Think you have what it takes to be crowned champion? The road to Berlin starts here: https://t.co/0xuo9yOmfe pic.twitter.com/zEAlod3Zrh
— Twitch (@Twitch) March 1, 2019
“There is so much talent on Twitch and the competition is a way for us to support the next wave of performers and make sure their talent is both rewarded and visible to a huge audience,” Kate Jhaveri, chief marketing officer at Twitch, said in a statement.
https://twitter.com/TwitchSings/status/1100516322868322304
Twitch creators have already built massive followings, which they have been able to monetize. The top streamer, Ninja, made $10 million last year. There are also plenty of other Twitch streamers who make a living by streaming their video game play on the site for fans to watch.
By adding a singing component to the mix, Twitch is now positioning itself to become a destination for music creators. The Twitch Sings game will offer fans the chance to interact with performers, whether it’s by cheering them on, or challenging them to sing a new song from the Twitch catalog. It wasn’t immediately clear how many songs are in the initial Twitch Sings catalog, but whatever the case is, we’re sure Twitch singers will hit audiences with their best shot—and fire away.