Over 25 streaming partners will simulcast a mammoth five-and-a-half-hour FireAid benefit concert on Thursday to fundraise for Los Angeles wildfire relief, featuring music industry standouts like Billie Eilish, Stevie Wonder and Lady Gaga. It’s a stark departure from the days when the major television networks served as the showcase for such fundraising events, a shift that reflects the dominance of digital distribution platforms in reaching a mass audience.
“Music is closer to streaming than broadcast television,” Irving Azoff, the organizer of the FireAid concert, told TheWrap, noting that it was a pretty simple decision: he could never get a five-hour block of prime time on network TV like he could on streaming services.
The music mogul also collaborated with Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X and YouTube to reach audiences on social media in addition to traditional streamers. “I wanted to go to where the music listeners go,” he said.
Traditionally, relief concerts have been broadcast across the leading networks. A star-studded concert after the Sept. 11 terror attacks in 2001, for example, was simulcast by all the major broadcasters, a pattern repeated multiple times in response to crises during the years since.
As the music industry has shifted to engage with fans on social media or through concert films on streaming, the concert’s organizers saw an opportunity to achieve greater reach, as well as to achieve greater creative freedom for an event that will run almost twice as long as the available primetime window for broadcast television.
A whirlwind planning process
The massive effort came together in just two weeks, reflecting an industry-wide collaboration of artists, streamers and venue owners all stepping up to ask how they could help.
It helped that Azoff and his wife Shelli are deeply connected throughout the entertainment creative and business community over decades. Just days after fires blazed throughout the city, Shelli – Irving’s wife of 47 years – asked L.A. Clippers CEO Gillian Zucker if they could mount a benefit concert at the NBA team’s home, the Intuit Dome.
Rod Stewart was the first artist to volunteer, Azoff said, when the rock star’s daughter was on the phone with Shelli. Stevie Nicks, who lost her own home in the fires, contacted Azoff second, asking how she could lend her talents to the cause.
As word of devastating losses raced through the tight-knit entertainment industry, Azoff said he and a tiny production team were overwhelmed by artists’ interest.
“We didn’t have to go out and beg people to do it. Unfortunately, the bill filled so fast there were people who wanted to be on the show, but we just ran out of room,” the music mogul told TheWrap. “We graduated from one building to two.”
After assembling a lineup of 27 artists, the production team expanded the concert to both the Intuit Dome and the Kia Forum and brought on Emmy Award-winning producer Joel Gallen.
The Intuit Dome will host Billie Eilish, Earth, Wind & Fire, Gracie Abrams, Jelly Roll, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Lil Baby, Olivia Rodrigo, Peso Pluma, Rod Stewart, Stevie Wonder, Sting, and Tate McRae. The Kia Forum will feature Alanis Morissette, Anderson.Paak, Dave Matthews and John Mayer, Dawes, Graham Nash, Green Day, John Fogerty, Joni Mitchell, No Doubt, P!nk, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stephen Stills, Stevie Nicks, and The Black Crowes.
Gallen’s credits include the Peabody Award-winning 9/11 concert “America: A Tribute to Heroes,” “Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast” for victims of Hurricane Katrina and “Hope for Haiti Now” following the 2010 earthquake.
However, this will be the founder of Tenth Planet Productions’ first time directing and producing a large-scale concert event strictly for streaming.
The advantages of streaming
“There’s nobody giving us notes or backseat driving,” Gallen told TheWrap. “Creative freedom on the streamers is the main reason [we went there] and also because of the length of the show. We have so much more flexibility on how it’s presented when you’re on streamers.”
Gallen executive produced and directed Chris Rock’s “Selective Outrage” – the first live-stream comedy special on Netflix – but this two-venue, in-person and streaming benefit concert will be a different kind of undertaking.
“If we do it on the network, maybe there’d have to be commercial breaks, and you have to worry about censorship,” Gallen said. “With streamers, you are basically treating this thing like it’s a concert, and the production is a fly on the wall.”
Azoff said that the production team initially went to YouTube to stream the concert after his “great friend” Eddy Cue, Apple’s SVP of Services, said the platform had the best track record when it came to fundraising. Shortly after, streamers reached out to Azoff and the Live Nation teams, saying they wanted to hop on board.
Apple TV+, Disney+, Hulu, KTLA+, Max, Netflix, Paramount+, Pluto TV, Peacock, Prime Video and Veeps, among others, will all air the concert – a first for the streaming industry.
“It’s so inspiring to see artists and brands come together to raise funds and resources for the Los Angeles community during this ongoing crisis,” Nina Rosenstein, EVP of Late Night & Specials Programming for HBO, said in a statement to TheWrap. “Music has always been a powerful tool for positive change, and we’re honored to help raise awareness and support through our platform.”
“The Los Angeles wildfires have been truly heartbreaking for our community, with many of our colleagues and friends directly impacted by the devastation. We are committed to finding ways to support rebuilding efforts and jumped at the opportunity to stream this special event on both our free service Pluto TV and paid subscription service Paramount+,” Jeff Grossman, EVP of Programming for Paramount+, said in a statement to TheWrap.
More than $60 million dollars have already been raised from ticket sales and sponsorship dollars for wildfire recovery and prevention efforts. Every donation from viewers watching live at home will be matched by Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and his wife Connie, aiming to raise tens of millions of dollars for the cause.
All contributions made to FireAid will be distributed under the aegis of the Annenberg Foundation for short-term relief efforts and long-term initiatives to prevent future fire disasters throughout Southern California.
“The Clippers have already picked up every nickel of cost between them and Live Nation,” Azoff said. “So every dollar raised is going out to the community.”
A personal sense of loss
Like many Angelenos, everyone involved in the FireAid effort has a story of a friend, family member or colleague who has been affected by the devastating fires. Gallen said that two of his right-hand men for the show lost their homes in the fires.
Bob Clearmountain, a prominent sound mixer in the industry, lost his home and studio in the fire but will serve as the lead mixer for the Thursday night concert.
“Even though he’s lost his home, he’s lost his studio, he’s stepping in because this show is going to benefit his neighbors and all the other people. He doesn’t even care about himself. He’s a very selfless guy,” Gallen said, holding back tears. “He’s basically homeless.”
The concert’s technical director Eric Becker – “the one that’s going to sit next to me on the truck,” Gallen said – also lost his home. “Those are the people we’re doing the show for.”
Tim Sexton, a veteran producer of music fundraisers for social causes, has stepped up to run production. He too lost his home in the Palisades fire.
Throughout the show, video packages featuring L.A. residents directly affected by the disaster will share first-hand accounts of the ferocious fires. Though the show intends to convey the devastation, Gallen emphasized that the intention is to focus on the resilience and strength of L.A.
“This show is about healing, but it’s also showing how strong the people of L.A. are. This is a big setback, but the citizens of L.A. are going to rise above,” Gallen said. “They’re going to work together to rebuild the communities that were lost because of these wildfires, and we’re all in this together.”
The other benefit concerts Gallen produced were done for TV and much more intimate. This one is unique because Gallen intends to place viewers at home inside the arena amidst the action.
The concert will be split up into thirds. The first third will feature performances from the Kia Forum, the second will be a mix of both and the final third will feature performances from the Intuit Dome. Azoff and Gallen teased that there will be surprises throughout the night and unexpected collaborations from artists.
“When something tragic and devastating happens, like what we just went through here in Los Angeles with these wildfires, everybody wants to help,” Gallen said. “It’s amazing how fast you can get people to say yes.”
The producers noted that the artists will each perform two to four songs, potentially more if they have a special guest joining them on stage. Thousands of first responders and affected people will be in the nearly sold-out audience of both shows, giving them a front row seat to the fundraising event.
“We want to keep reminding people in between the music, ‘Why are we here? Why are we doing this?’ And it’s to help these people,” Gallen added.
