Qello Concerts (also known as Qello, Stingray Qello) is an American-based entertainment company founded in 2010, in New York, by Brian Lisi, Bob Frank, and Richard Johnson. Qello is the parent company of digital streaming service Qello Concerts, and

over-the-top content An over-the-top media service (also known as over-the-top television, or simply OTT) is a digital distribution service of video and audio delivered directly to viewers via the public Internet, rather than through an over-the-air, cable, satel ...

service provider Qello Media Solutions. Qello Concerts is a digital streaming music service specializing in on-demand concert films and music documentaries. In 2016, Qello Concerts added live streaming events and original programming. It was acquired by Stingray Group in January 2018.

Background

Qello Concerts licenses long-form concerts, documentaries, behind the scenes footage and interviews from both major and independent music labels. Qello Concerts is available in more than 160 countries. Qello Concerts entered the film and television industry in 2016, debuting its first series, ''Evolution of a Song''. The platform also began its live streaming events initiative in 2016 offering live stream events including

Slightly Stoopid Slightly Stoopid is an American Rock music, rock band based in the Ocean Beach, San Diego, Ocean Beach neighborhood of San Diego, San Diego, California, who describe their music as "a fusion of folk, rock, reggae and blues with hip-hop, funk, m ...

with Bob Weir at TRI Studios, the 2016 Lockn' Festival, and

Umphrey's McGee Umphrey's McGee, sometimes stylized as UM, is an American rock band originally from South Bend, Indiana. The band experiments with many musical styles, including rock, metal, funk, jazz, blues, reggae, electronic, bluegrass, country, and ...

’s Chucktown Ball. Qello launched Qello Media Solutions in 2015 as a white label digital streaming service provider with a variety of media clients including Acorn TV. In January of 2018, Canadian streaming media company Stingray Group announced that they had acquired Qello. The Qello Concerts service has since been renamed "Stingray Qello". The Qello executive team includes Brian Lisi as CEO, Bob Frank as President of Qello Concerts, Richard Johnson as Director of Business Development and Chief Revenue Officer, and Nicole Johnson as Director of Communications.

History

In May 2011, Qello was given one of Google's Developer Sandbox spots at

Google I/O Google I/O, or simply I/O, is an annual developer conference held by Google in Mountain View, California. The name "I/O" is taken from the number googol, with the "I" representing the first digit "1" in a googol and the "O" representing the s ...

. In June 2011, RightsFlow, a licensing and royalty service provider, entered into an agreement with Qello, providing them with a service for royalty reporting, ensuring that rights holders are properly compensated for the use of their creative work. A percentage of all monthly revenue goes directly to the content provider. In May 2012, Qello and EMI music entered an agreement, expanding Qello's library with content from EMI's library as well. EMI was a British multinational recording and publishing company. In April 2013, Qello launched a music blog designed to feature original content called Inside the Q. Ben Fong-Torres, former editor for

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

, is the Senior Editor. Inside the Q bloggers introduce Center Stage and Breakout artists being featured on Qello, as well as information about New Music Tuesdays, the apps new releases. The blog also has reviews of the concerts and documentaries featured on Qello with Fong-Torres's accounts of personal encounters and interviews with many of the artists. As of July 2014, Qello has 3 million registered users in more than 160 countries.

Features

Users can access Qello via its mobile app available on

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and Android, its

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel,

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

’s

Kindle Fire The Amazon Fire, formerly called the Kindle Fire, is a line of tablet computers developed by Amazon. Built with Quanta Computer, the Kindle Fire was first released in November 2011, featuring a color 7-inch multi-touch display with IPS tech ...

Windows Mobile Windows Mobile is a discontinued mobile operating system developed by Microsoft for smartphones and personal digital assistants (PDA). Designed to be the portable equivalent of the Windows desktop OS in the emerging Mobile device, mobile/port ...

, and

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

and

Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...

Smart TV A smart TV, also known as a connected TV (CTV or, rarely, CoTV), is a traditional television set with integrated Internet and interactive Web 2.0 features that allow users to stream music and videos, browse the internet, and view photos. Smart T ...

s. Users can log in using their Facebook or Twitter account, or by creating a login. If using a device supporting

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

, Qello scans the users iTunes library and suggests bands and videos the user may want to watch but had not previously purchased. It also gives iOS users access to purchase audio tracks of artists directly through iTunes. Qello allows users to create and share custom set lists. All users get unlimited access to Qello TV, which has more than 30 channels of non-stop concert moments; they also get one track from every concert film. Qello also offers an All-Access Pass giving subscribers unlimited access to every full-length concert and documentary in the library.

Platforms

Qello is also available on

and

smart TV A smart TV, also known as a connected TV (CTV or, rarely, CoTV), is a traditional television set with integrated Internet and interactive Web 2.0 features that allow users to stream music and videos, browse the internet, and view photos. Smart T ...

, and

and Android devices. In December 2011, Qello was added to Google TV, and in May 2013,

announced it would be featuring Qello as one of two channels launched in its new subscription channels. This partnership allows YouTube users to access all of the content from Qello. Soon after, in June 2013, Qello was added to

Apple TV Apple TV is a digital media player and a microconsole developed and marketed by Apple. It is a small piece of networking hardware that sends received media data such as video and audio to a TV or external display. Its media services include ...

, making Qello available everywhere that Apple TV is available. The following month, July 2013, Qello was added among the

Chromecast Chromecast is a discontinued line of digital media players developed by Google. The devices, designed as small dongles, can play Internet-streaming media, streamed audio-visual content on a high-definition television or home audio system. The u ...

apps. In April 2014, the Qello app became available for

Roku Roku ( ) is a brand of consumer electronics that includes streaming players, smart TVs (and their operating systems), as well as a free TV streaming service. The brand is owned by Roku, Inc., an American company. As of 2024, Roku is the U ...

devices. Qello was also a launch partner on the Amazon Fire TV. In September 2014, Qello became available on

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

. Qello was previously available on

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...

and

via the PlayStation Network, but the service has since been suspended on these platforms. On May 4, 2016, PlayStation users in North America were emailed notifying them of the suspension of service and were instead encouraged to use other platforms or the paid-service Amazon Prime. As of May 6, 2016, however, the Qello website still lists PS3, PS4, and PS Vita as supported devices. In 2020, Qello Concerts was made available via STV Player, the streaming service of Scottish broadcaster STV. Viewers could watch a live-stream of the channel, as well as view a selection of concerts on demand. Qello's streamed channel was removed from STV Player in 2021, however, a selection of concerts are available to view in the "Music" section. In 2021, Qello Concerts joined Freeview in the United Kingdom along with sister channel Stingray Naturescape. The channels can be found on channel 271 via the Channelbox streaming portal alongside Now 70s, Now 90s and Clubland TV.

References

External links