Zoom’s popularity has gained it the rare moniker of being a ‘unicorn company.’ Naturally, you’re curious about that term. You’re probably asking, “What is a unicorn company?” A unicorn company is a privately held company that has attained a $1 billion dollar valuation in less than a few years of its initial operating date. Eric Yuan started Zoom in 2013. Yuan is a former Cisco engineer and executive. Yuan left Cisco in 2011 taking with him 40 of its engineers. He began another company initially, which was called Saasbee, Inc. In 2012, the company changed its name to Zoom and launched a beta version of its services. In 2013, Zoom had undergone a series of fund raising and user acquisition efforts which resulted in the company growing from 400,000 users to 3 million users and increasing their financial resources from an initial $6 million to add yet another $6.5 million.
From its beginnings, the communications company is now widely known as an online video platform for your visual and audial interactive needs. Zoom is utilized to conduct meetings, webinars, phone chats, family conferences, virtual concerts, and online events. Unfamiliar terms have been developed to keep up with the technology now used with the advent of Zoom, and other platforms like it, such as You Tube, LinkedIn, Restream, and Facebook Live. Now, we have the terms ‘live streaming’ and ‘multistreamng.’
The Covid-19 pandemic quickly increased or dependence on technologies like live streaming to keep the required distance demanded by the contagion. Because of their implementation we have successfully maintained a social closeness across the world and musicians have continuously remained in the spotlight despite not being able to perform at concerts and other live venues.
For anyone to use Zoom, they have to download the app onto their PC or MAC computer. After downloading the app, they must type in their email address. An activation link will be sent to their email, which they must click to activate. They will need to complete their enrollment by answering several more questions and finishing the settings for the program. Then they will be ready to use Zoom.
Zoom enables you and your family, friends, co-workers, business associates, teammates, etc. to meet virtually and interact at scheduled times. You can engage in full-fledged video conferencing, visual only, or audio only interactions. You can also use Zoom as your instant messaging (IM) platform. If you press ‘CHAT’, you can select who you would like to chat with and begin an IM session. You can also set-up a Channel where you will have an exclusive chat room with select participants that you can select from Zoom’s ‘CONTACT’ menu.
Zoom offers a lot of options for your communication needs. As a musician, it enables you to continue reaching out to your fans and occasional listeners with performance opportunities. The advanced options needed by performers are not available on the tablet or phone versions of Zoom. While the average person will use a free Zoom account. If you have specific business needs, you best option is a Zoom Pro account which has a monthly subscription fee. Zoom Pro offers you the options you’ll need to record and establish the ideal sound settings. Only the PC and MAC downloadable programs possess these settings.
For Zoom concerts, you’ll need to have a lone source of music. The latency problem is too much of an issue if your guitarist is playing from one location and your vocalist is in another. Make sure the stereo line is coming from a sound board. As the host, you need to enable stereo sound and original sound on your settings menu for the meeting/concert. You’ll also need to experiment with the suppression of background noise. You’ll have two options to choose from: suppress persistent background noise or suppress intermittent background noise. You may be able to get by with selecting one or you may have to do both. After your sound check, make that decision. The most important thing you should enable to ensure an enjoyable concert is to mute you audience upon entry into your Zoom session.
If you follow all those steps, you’ll ensure you have a successful Zoom concert, and your fans can listen to your music and enjoy themselves.