Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Live streaming platform Bigo Live in Malaysia has announced the official launch of ‘Bigo Marketplace’, a new e-commerce initiative by the platform to aid local micro-enterprises and small and midsize businesses (SMBs) leverage the platform’s growing user base to increase brand exposure and facilitate sales conversions.

With Bigo Marketplace, Bigo Live has launched a new feature called ‘Shop’ on the Bigo Live app which users and broadcasters alike can access for an easier and convenient shopping experience. Said feature is currently available to vendors who have already signed on to the Bigo Marketplace program and enables them to direct Bigo Live users to their brand or product’s website during their live streaming sessions. 

As the feature is currently in its Beta stage, it is currently available to registered users, broadcasters, and vendors.

“Here at Bigo Live, we are committed to providing our users with engaging and meaningful content that not only entertains but also gives back to the community through curated content that helps Malaysian businesses through this difficult period. With Bigo Marketplace, we not only want to look after our growing ecosystem of content creators but also provide business owners with an additional platform to generate income and exposure for their businesses,” a Bigo Live spokesperson said.

The ‘Bigo Marketplace’ launch follows the success of Bigo Live’s first e-commerce online marketplace event, ‘Bigo Pasar Malam’, where Bigo Live users were able to participate in live stream sales sessions simulating the Malaysian night market experience. Held last 30 July and 6 August 2021, the event saw over 100 Bigo Live broadcasters offering products for sale from their own businesses. These products ranged from clothing, snacks, gadgets, accessories, homeware, as well as cosmetic and skincare products.

“Malaysia is among the top e-commerce markets in Southeast Asia. Following the success of ‘Bigo Pasar Malam’, where the event drew in between around 150,000 to 200,000 views for our vendors during each session, and observing certain vendors who managed to sell more than 100 items within 2 hours, we decided to launch Bigo Marketplace as we recognized the potential of live streaming as a key contributor to Malaysia’s e-commerce industry,” the spokesperson added.

Singapore – Twilio, a global cloud communications platform, has announced the launch of Twilio Live, a cloud-based solution which allows businesses to quickly integrate audio and video live streaming solutions into their applications, a direct response to the rise of video channels as medium for customer engagement.

What sets Twilio Live apart from other solutions in the market, Twilio Live enables businesses to integrate these live streaming solutions with a custom fit for their brand and the needs for their online community. Furthermore, Twilio Live has a lower latency rate, made possible with Twilio’s reliable and secure infrastructure, combined with a best in class developer experience.

This, in turn, allows businesses in a wide array of industries, from retail to education to gaming and entertainment, to be able to build live streaming experiences that are unique to their brand.

“The rise of virtual experiences and the popularity of platforms like Clubhouse and TikTok have signaled that the next big channel for customer engagement is live audio and video streaming. Twilio Live gives businesses the building blocks they need to create personalized experiences for their communities and interact with millions of customers in a fresh and exciting way,” said Hakim Mehmood, general manager of voice and video at Twilio.

The launch of Twilio Live coincides with the greater demand for live streaming channels for customer engagement, evident with the latest data from Twilio’s annual ‘State of Customer Engagement Report’, where it reported that 98% of businesses say that video communication with customers accelerated more than other channels during the pandemic. From virtual conferences to workout classes to online learning, video and audio live streaming is here to stay.

Despite being in its beta phase, Twilio Live is the next step in Twilio’s journey to becoming the leading customer engagement platform, empowering businesses to build exceptional customer experiences that span every communication channel.

Twilio is present in Asia-Pacific, with offices present in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Japan, and Singapore.

Sydney, Australia – Global live streaming platform Bigo Live’s new live stream event aims to engage football fans in Australia, and it has partnered with Australian Football League (AFL) talents Xavier Duursma and Cameron Zurhaar to conduct a Q&A session with fans.

To be streamed live on 27 and 28 of February, the live stream session aims to encourage Aussie football fans to be active and healthy during the global pandemic by unfolding and connecting the communities over the shared love for football.

During the session, the AFL players will answer the top 10 frequently asked questions to them and will share football players’ stories and talk about their daily lives as professional players.

On 27 February, Cam Zurhaar, who plays for North Melbourne Football Club, will go live streaming first from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. AEDT. While on 28 February, Xavier Duursma, the wingman for Port Adelaide Football Club and 2019 rising star nominee, will go live from 8:00 p.m to 9:00 p.m AEDT.’

Bigo Live has been leveraging ANZ talents, such as Stan Walker, M4SONIC, Taylor Henderson, Dami Im, Erin Miranda, and many other artists, and is now looking forward to connecting to the rich sports culture in the region.

Seoul, South Korea – Big Hit Entertainment, the South Korea-based entertainment group which handles various K-pop artists, including world-known group BTS, has announced it is entering an expanded strategic partnership with global music corporation Universal Music Group (UMG).

The partnership entails both companies working closely together in increasing opportunities for artists through innovation and technology, while expanding the global reach of K-pop music and culture around the world.

Furthermore, the partnership will allow UMG artists to explore enhanced ‘direct to fan’ communications through Big Hit’s Weverse, a dynamic community-based platform that allows loyal artist fans to engage, share and interact, see and hear new content and purchase new products.

“Our two companies indeed share values and visions in that we both pursue constant innovations and are committed to providing our fans with genuine music and content of the highest and uncompromising level of quality. In this sense, I strongly believe that UMG and Big Hit will create a synergy that will rewrite the global music history,” said Bang Si-Hyuk, chairman and CEO of Big Hit Entertainment.

The partnership, announced through the recently-established live-streaming platform of Big Hit Entertainment called KBYK’s VenewLive, also stated details about assembling and debuting a new global K-pop boy group together in the U.S. for the first time.

“We will strive to secure competitive platform leadership and develop a top group of artists through the close partnership between our two companies, enabling K-pop to transcend all borders and languages. This project is especially significant as it will apply Big Hit’s ‘success formula’ established over the past 16 years to the U.S., the center of the global music market,” said Lenzo Yoon, CEO of global and business at Big Hit Entertainment.

Members of this new boy group will be selected through a global audition program, which is on track to begin airing in 2022 and will be launched in conjunction with a major U.S. media partner. The debuting global act will work based on the K-pop system – a full production that combines music, performance, fashion, music video, and communications with fans.

Lucian Grainge, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group, said, “With their innovative approach to developing artists and embracing new technology, Big Hit has become one of the most dynamic companies in music entertainment. We’re thrilled to be working together as we launch a new joint venture between our companies that will further accelerate K-pop as a global cultural phenomenon.”

The upcoming audition program will also seek the help of Geffen Records, leveraging their extensive industry network and partners to oversee the music production, marketing, and global distribution operations. Big Hit will utilize its global expertise to lead the discovery, training, and development of new artists, fan content production processes, and management of fan communications through the Weverse platform.

John Janick, Chairman, and CEO at Interscope Geffen, commented, “We are all incredibly excited about this joint venture project between Geffen Records and Big Hit. This partnership offers both of us an incredible opportunity to work together helping to shape the future of music globally to the benefit of artists and fans alike.”