Last updated: 2026-01-31

For most entertainment organizers in the U.S., start with StreamYard as your browser-based production studio and use its On‑Air webinars or simple landing pages to host virtual shows. When you need multi-day ticketing hubs or complex multi-track festivals, layer Zoom Events or Webex Events on top as delivery and registration tools.

Summary

• StreamYard gives entertainers a simple, studio-quality way to produce live shows, interviews, and virtual concerts in the browser, with no downloads for guests. (StreamYard support)
• On paid plans, you get custom branding, multistreaming, long recordings, and On‑Air webinars that add a registration-style viewing experience. (StreamYard support)
• Zoom Events and Webex Events add event hubs, ticketing, and multi-day, multi-track scheduling for larger entertainment festivals or corporate shows. (Zoom Events, Webex Events)
• A practical stack for many teams is StreamYard as the production layer, embedded into a landing page or an event suite for registration and monetization.

What does “virtual event platform for entertainment” really mean?

For entertainers, “virtual event platform” usually boils down to three jobs:

1. Produce the show — switch scenes, bring on remote guests, run overlays, manage audio.
2. Deliver the show — get a clean stream to viewers on social, your site, or a hosted page.
3. Monetize and manage the audience — handle registration, tickets, replays, and basic analytics.

StreamYard is built first for the production and delivery parts: a browser-based studio where you can host guests, share screens, add branded overlays, and stream to multiple destinations at once. (StreamYard support) Tools like Zoom Events and Webex Events lean more into registration, multi-track scheduling, and in‑platform lobbies.

The key is deciding whether you’re running a show or a full-scale festival. Most entertainment brands are closer to “a show” than “a festival,” which is where StreamYard is a strong default.

Why is StreamYard a strong default for entertainment events?

If your priority is putting on a great show with minimal friction, the production experience matters more than a giant feature checklist.

At StreamYard, we focus on:

• Ease of use: Organizers repeatedly describe StreamYard as intuitive, with a fast learning curve. Non-technical hosts can go live without wrestling with complex routing.
• Guest-friendly access: Guests join from a browser; they don’t need to download an app or create an account, which users highlight as a clear advantage over more traditional meeting tools.
• Studio-quality control: You get independent control of screen audio and mic audio, plus branded overlays, logos, and flexible layouts you apply live.
• High-quality recordings: Local multi-track recordings in up to 4K UHD with 48 kHz WAV audio give you studio-quality inputs for post-production and future releases.
• Multi-aspect streaming: With Multi-Aspect Ratio Streaming (MARS), you can send landscape and portrait outputs from the same session, so concerts play nicely on both desktop and vertical feeds.

For an entertainment creator, that means you can:

• Host a live set, panel, or watch party.
• Bring in up to 10 on-screen guests and additional backstage participants for larger casts. (StreamYard support)
• Capture clean, separate tracks for editing highlight reels or full replays later.

Most teams do not need a complex event “venue” to pull this off; they need a studio that “just works” and looks professional.

How does StreamYard On‑Air support entertainment-style virtual events?

StreamYard On‑Air adds the “event” layer on top of the studio, without turning your workflow into a maze.

On‑Air (available starting on higher plans) gives you:

• A browser-based production studio for hosting guests, screen sharing, branding, and displaying live chat comments. (StreamYard support)
• A registration-style watch page you can share with your audience or embed on your own site.
• Viewer access with no downloads or accounts needed.

A simple scenario:

• A comedian schedules a one-hour virtual show.
• They set up an On‑Air event, customize branding, and embed the watch page on their website.
• On show night, they host from the StreamYard studio, bring on a surprise guest, and interact with chat.
• Afterward, they use the multi-track recording plus AI clips to spin out short, captioned bits for social.

If you already have your own ticketing or membership system, you can keep using it. On‑Air handles the viewing experience; your existing stack handles payments and access control.

Can StreamYard On‑Air support ticketed, paid entertainment events?

Yes—with a small but important nuance.

On‑Air is designed as a webinar-style solution with registration and an embeddable watch page, not as a full e-commerce stack. (StreamYard support) To run paid concerts or specials, most organizers pair StreamYard with:

• A ticketing platform (Eventbrite, a membership plugin, or a course platform).
• A simple paywalled landing page where only buyers see the On‑Air embed.

This separation works well in entertainment because:

• You can pick ticketing tools that match your pricing and refund policies.
• You keep the flexibility to change ticketing providers without re-learning your studio workflow.
• You can still multistream teaser segments to social while keeping the full show behind your paid page.

If you want built-in paid ticketing and revenue reports in the same product, that’s where Zoom Events and Webex Events become more relevant.

Zoom Events vs StreamYard for concerts and multi-stage festivals

Zoom Events is an event-management layer built on Zoom Meetings and Webinars, aimed at single- or multi-day experiences with multiple sessions and tracks. (Zoom Events)

For entertainment, Zoom Events makes sense when you:

• Run multi-day, multi-track festivals with concurrent sessions.
• Need customizable registration and built-in ticketing for free or paid events. (Zoom Events)
• Want in-platform analytics that track registration, attendance, ticket sales, and revenue. (Zoom Events)

Trade-offs to consider:

• Event setup is more involved: you configure hubs, lobbies, tickets, and tracks.
• It’s tightly tied to the broader Zoom licensing stack, which may be more than a small creative team needs.

A practical pattern many teams follow is:

• Use StreamYard as the studio feeding into Zoom Webinars via RTMP.
• Use Zoom Events for registration, ticketing, and the event lobby.

That way you keep StreamYard’s production control and guest simplicity, while using Zoom Events only where its multi-track and ticketing tools truly matter.

What production and sponsorship features does Webex Events offer for entertainment?

Webex Events is Cisco’s event suite for in-person, virtual, and hybrid events. It includes registration, flexible ticketing, and analytics, and it positions itself for everything from internal town halls to conferences with up to 100,000 attendees. (Webex Events)

For entertainment use cases, Webex Events is especially relevant if you:

• Need flexible ticketing with multiple ticket types, discount codes, and instant payouts. (Webex Events)
• Want a built-in production studio that creates branded live streams without outside software downloads. (Webex Events)
• Are running hybrid events with in-person check-in, badge printing, and a mobile app layer for engagement. (Webex Events pricing)

As with Zoom Events, Webex is attractive for enterprises already standardized on Webex Suite. Smaller entertainment teams, though, often find that StreamYard’s browser-based studio plus a simple landing page offers a faster path to “showtime” with less admin overhead.

How to choose a virtual event platform for live entertainment and performances

Here’s a simple decision path you can follow:

1. Start with the show itself

   • If you’re producing a talk show, live set, podcast taping, or single-stage concert, prioritize the studio and recording quality.
   • StreamYard’s production tools, local multi-track recording, and AI clips are built around this exact workflow.

2. Decide where registration lives

   • Already have a membership site, Patreon, or ticketing partner? Use StreamYard (and On‑Air when you want a hosted watch page) and keep your existing payment flow.
   • Need registration and ticketing fully baked into one event product? Consider Zoom Events or Webex Events as an additional layer.

3. Consider scale and complexity

   • Single-track or a few sessions, mostly virtual: StreamYard alone is typically enough.
   • Multi-day, multi-track festivals with sponsors and complex ticket structures: pair StreamYard with Zoom Events or Webex Events.

4. Weigh learning curve vs. feature depth

   • Many entertainers care more about going live confidently than about configuring dozens of options.
   • Browser-based studio workflows tend to get you on stage faster than all‑in‑one suites.

Selling tickets and collecting payments for StreamYard On‑Air webinars

Because On‑Air focuses on production and viewing, not payments, the cleanest approach is to:

• Use a ticketing or checkout tool (Stripe checkout links, e‑commerce, or event platforms) to sell access.
• After purchase, direct buyers to a protected page where your On‑Air event is embedded or where you share the unique access link.

This mirrors how many venues operate in the physical world: one system sells the tickets; another handles the lights, sound, and stage. StreamYard is the stage.

What we recommend

• Default choice: Use StreamYard as your main studio for virtual entertainment—concerts, comedy, interviews, and live shows.
• For simple paid shows: Combine StreamYard (and On‑Air when you want a hosted watch page) with your preferred ticketing or membership platform.
• For complex festivals: Keep StreamYard as your production layer and add Zoom Events or Webex Events only when you truly need multi-day, multi-track scheduling and built-in ticketing.
• Optimize for outcomes: Choose the lightest setup that still gives you great production quality, reliable recordings, and a frictionless viewer experience.