YouTube Extends Deal to Stream Coachella Through 2030

The streaming platform said Wednesday that it had inked a new deal with promoter Goldenvoice to be the exclusive livestream home of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival through 2030. YouTube CEO Neal Mohan announced the deal on stage at its Made On YouTube event in New York City Wednesday morning.

“We’re excited to bring the energy of the desert to millions of music fans around the world,” Mohan told an audience of creators on a stage flanked by windows overlooking the Hudson River.

The next edition of the festival in April 2027 will mark the 15th year that YouTube has streamed the event, which has become one of its tentpole pieces of content, with live coverage of all the stages. Over time the platform has added new functionality like multiview, and expanded coverage of both weekends. YouTube has also worked to get its creators access to the festival, turning into something of a content hub.

The production has reached near Super Bowl-levels of ambition, with festival headliners well aware that their sets will be seen live and on-demand by people all over the world (see last year’s set by Justin Bieber, which featured YouTube videos as part of the production). Or look at Karol G, who spent three times what she was paid for her set, viewing Coachella as a brand-building exercise.

“Every artist and their team has to determine what the value is for themselves,” UTA agent JBeau Lewis told THR earlier this year. “The strategic, savvy artists and their teams see the big picture of how Coachella both in the live experience and the livestream fit into the greater landscape of what they’re trying to accomplish.”

The new deal with YouTube means that the picture is only going to get bigger for artists.