Nos sat down with two of our Creator Residents this week to chat about their experiences streaming on Nostr and how it differs from other platforms. Lou is a game streamer who also streams on Twitch and Youtube while INPC is a music streamer with an impressive audio mixing career who is experimenting with streaming.
(Responses have been edited for clarity)
What inspired you to try streaming on Nostr?
INPC
Music industry is toast especially if you are not in the pop world. I’ve always worked with Indie people. Try something different - never done streaming before - get to know people, play music and chat with people and develop some relationships. I’m searching for ideas. I have loads of music. I’ll start it as a radio broadcast and then work from there. Through the process of using Nostr something will reveal itself. The fact that Nostr is an open protocol - I can eventually get it running from my own domain. Potential to set up some business-way - dealing with my audience directly - no streaming via Spotify and receiving crumbs. Nostr provides a way to achieve the 1000 true fans goal without a 3 party [intermediary]. It gets us back to how the internet was. Plus it’s a chance to work on something new.
Lou
I’ve never streamed before because I was camera shy. zap.stream was so new I knew there was not going to be a lot of people there at the beginning. The type of content I make is related to the ethos of Bitcoin and Freedom - may not resonate with the ethos of people on other platforms. Zaps came along and I was addicted to it for a bit. I realized how powerful it was to send a tip across the world. After I got that feeling - I didn’t have to set up a bank for it. I received it instantly and that’s what kept me streaming on Nostr.
Have you streamed previously on corporate platforms? If so, what was your experience like?
INPC
No. I’ve only ever posted videos on youtube. Streaming thing never occurred to me bc I’m not a gamer - bc I’ve perceived it as a gaming thing.
Lou
I tried Twitch eons ago. I did it a couple of times. I don’t have too much to say - I was playing by myself. A lot of bots for sure - it wasn’t a good experience because there was no experience at all.
Youtube, lots of tutorials related to - streaming side on Youtube is what I used to upload tutorials 10-12 years ago. Now my Youtube channel has a link to my Nostr account.
When streaming to zap.stream I still send my stream out to Twitch and Youtube. Twitch is weird - it’s a lot of weird bots - people want to sell you weird stuff. Youtube - almost zero - no one talks there.
How is audience engagement on zap.stream?
INPC
I peaked at 8, I’m getting 5 or 6 people. People coming in from the Fediverse as well. Had 3 people I’ve chatted with and zapped. People have come into the chat and people have zapped me. That’s real. There’s no waiting around for stripe or paypal or whatever. I do really like it. I want to get it on my Peertube.
Lou
It depends on the day because it's a niche platform - shoutout to Micro who always talks. Pathtofire and Grindr always talk. Get people who are completely new and they ask you questions about how Nostr works, how to get a wallet. There are a lot of lurkers - kind of sit there and not say anything. Lot of people are watching you. It’s been steady. Zaps depend on the weather honestly. I’m not in it for the money. I like the engagement. It’s for the hobby. Engagement has been steady upwards. Zap.stream is where I get the most engagement.
Which Nostr tool did you use for streaming and how did it work for you?
INPC
Zap.stream. I think it’s really straightforward to get things on. I wish there was a delete so I could delete those first streams. People have come into the chat and people have zapped me. That’s real. There’s no waiting around for Stripe or Paypal or whatever. I do really like it. I want to connect my zap.stream onto my Peertube.
Lou
Zap.stream plus widgets - top zapper, incoming zap thing, OBS. Or Streamlabs. Social Stream Ninja which merges all the chats together from the sources. I rebroadcast to Twitch and Youtube from zap.stream. I use those 3 tools. Zap.stream works fine.
Based on your experience what would you tell other streamers who are considering alternative streaming tools?
INPC
Give Nostr a go. Because of the level of control. I’ve never used Twitch but with Youtube you’re putting everything into a black box. You have to be doing major numbers before you get any income. On zap.stream if you have 100 people on there and they zapped - for a solo indie you could make enough to make it worthwhile and it would be direct. I think that is really cool. It’s like selling a record. You get that direct contact.
Lou
I always end my stream by saying - if you are watching this via Twitch and Youtube - try Nostr.
Own your content and your social graph. Always have your identity with you. Very powerful in my opinion. You will get paid in zaps which are tiny pieces of Bitcoin. Come stream at zap.stream - set up your wallet to receive bitcoin payments - zaps.
What would you like the existing Nostr community to know about streaming?
Lou
If you like people who are streaming on zap.stream - remember to support the developers. You can spread by word of mouth or buy a shirt - you get better things in the client when the developers are supported. Support the devs of your favorite clients. Buy some merch - you can buy it in fiat if you want to.
INPC
Give people’s stream a try, or let people know. Even boosting content is wicked. If we share people’s content and boost it up. Interact and try things out.
Check out a clip of Lou's Stream here.
You can find him streaming at https://zap.stream/lou
You can find INPC streaming here.
