Meet Lara de Wit, a Sydney-based musician who built a passionate online community through her live music streams
I had the opportunity to chat with Lara, a fellow Twitch streamer and talented musician who’s built an incredible following within a few short months. This is what she had to say about her channel.
Can you tell me a bit about your background and where you're based?
I'm a classically trained pianist and hobby violinist based in Sydney. I have a degree in piano performance, and used to work for Opera Australia. I have spent the last 6 years making music videos for YouTube (mostly video game music, film/anime covers), and I've only recently started streaming on Twitch.
What made you decide to start streaming there?
Word of mouth made me decide to start live streaming on Twitch actually! I had heard that the music community was supportive and friendly, and that the platform was really interactive, so I decided to have a go and possibly make Twitch my new primary platform for my video game music renditions.
Can you explain your channel and what type of content you stream?
I stream a live music show where audience members (people in the chat room) can make song requests. I will live learn any song that people want to hear and I think the immediacy of that is compelling. I have tried to set myself apart from musicians who will just stick to a song list by offering live learns and improvs of any song in any genre.
How often do you stream and what’s the format of your show?
I usually stream 3-4 times per week for approximately 3 hours each time. I do a mix of day and night streams so I manage to capture both the US and the European crowds - being Australian, the time differences are difficult to deal with! In my streams, I play anything and everything.
Basically the chat room and requests dictate the content, so it's very interactive and not at all predetermined. The exception to this is if I decide to have a themed night, for example a 'Disney' stream!
Anyone can suggest a song for me to play, but I do prioritise song requests from subscribers and donators. There's only one of me, and while I do my best, I cannot possibly get through everyone's request in a single stream! I have a system in place where people who donate, cheer or sub get preferential, VIP treatment. However, everyone can chat and enjoy the music for free.
Every single stream I do is different, and that's what I love about it. I am constantly learning new music!
How long did it take you to build up your audience?
Six years on YouTube and about three months on Twitch is the honest answer to that. I was lucky in that I already had a fanbase from YouTube, and many of them popped over to Twitch to check out my stream. I imagine it would have been a much slower process starting Twitch without any kind of existing fanbase. I was partnered within a month, and I've continued to grow my Twitch audience since then!
What is the toughest part of live streaming?
Undoubtedly trying to stream 3-4 times per week while holding down a full time job. Full time jobs take most of your energy, and I found myself getting frustrated and resentful at not being able to give 'my best' to my streaming. While you're starting out, you need to be streaming at least 3 times per week to build up your channel and be considered for partnership.
Two months after starting to stream, I quit my job as a full time music teacher and I haven't looked back.
What is your favourite aspect of Twitch?
My favourite part of Twitch is something I didn't see coming. My favourite part of Twitch is seeing a community form before my eyes, a community I have built. I see people making friends in chat, forming solid relationships all based on a love of music.
The community aspect of Twitch is unbeatable. I have managed to attract a group of warm, inclusive, respectful, diverse, interesting people and I couldn't be happier.
How do you monetise on Twitch and how has that changed your life (in a financial sense)?
There are four ways in which I monetise my channel on Twitch:
1) Donations -These are the only way to monetise your channel if you are not a partner or an affiliate. Donations form the largest portion of my Twitch income, especially since I offer incentives to donate, such as priority song requests.
2) Subscriptions - People can subscribe at 3 different tiers per month and in return they gain perks such as emotes, badges, song request privileges, and private chat servers.
3) Ad revenue - This is honestly negligible for a channel my size.
4) Bits - Bits are the currency on Twitch. Instead of donating, people can choose to support you by 'cheering' any number of bits they choose. 1 bit equates to 1 cent.
Thanks to the various ways I am able to monetise my channel, Twitch is now a viable income stream for me. It gave me the push I needed to quit my full time job and pursue life as a freelance musician.
I have a lot to thank this platform for. While it may be possible for a streamer my size to stream full time and make a living from it, I have chosen to stream part time so that I have time to work on other creative projects
If you had any advice for someone starting out, what would you tell them?
I have had a really wonderful time on Twitch, but I attribute my ease of transition to the fact that I already had a YouTube fanbase. I never had to stream to 2 people like most streamers do when they start fresh. My advice would be to be realistic. You will have slow streams, you will have streams that feel like no one is watching, and then you will have fantastic streams that leave you buzzing for hours.
If you are starting out, first establish what you want to achieve with streaming (partnership, an income stream, fun, skill building) and then be realistic about the amount of effort and hard work you may need to put in to get there. You will need to GRIND.
I don't want to paint streaming in a naively positive light because the fact is that less than 1% of channels are partnered, and not everyone can make a living from it. However, I do want to say that if you believe you have an engaging onscreen personality, plus unique, interactive content, and the drive to work really, really hard, streaming just might be for you.
What are your long term goals for your Twitch channel?
My goals are to continue streaming part time on Twitch (approximately 15-20 hours per week) so that it remains a viable income stream. With any internet platform, nothing is guaranteed and you are at its mercy, which I think is why it's wise not to put all of your eggs in one basket. I do not know whether twitch will still be around (in the form we know it today) two years from now, or even 6 months from now. Several things could happen: the creative side of the platform could absolutely boom, and audiences could grow rapidly as more and more people learn about music on Twitch, or it could go the way of youtube and become oversaturated with content creators. I can't control what will happen, so I plan to keep streaming consistently and see where it takes me.
Lara’s Twitch channel >> https://www.twitch.tv/lara6683