YouTube Extends Exclusive Coachella Livestreams Through 2030

YouTube is extending its exclusive livestream deal with the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival through 2030.

Lyor Cohen, Global Head of Music, YouTube, made an appearance at the video giant’s Made on YouTube event in New York on Wednesday as the news was being announced.

In a blog post, Cohen noted that YouTube will mark 15 years of bringing the California desert festival to its global audience. He said the 2026 edition marked a record for live viewership of the event.

YouTube, whose advertising revenue has grown steadily over the past several years, is emphasizing live programming. Last year, it carried its first NFL football game and will stream the Academy Awards starting in 2029.

Coachella served a key technology purpose as pay-TV sibling YouTube TV looked to develop its “multiview” feature, which delivers several different video streams to a single screen. After rolling out the functionality for Coachella in 2024, limiting viewers’ FOMO by allowing them to surf among venues, YouTube then made it a key component of YouTube TV, with other distributors eventually copying the experience.

In many cases, depending on the artist and their rights arrangement, the livestreams are the only way viewers not at the festival have been able to see headline-grabbing performances by Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Blackpink and other artists.

“Over the past decade and a half, the Coachella livestream on YouTube has evolved from a single feed into a full interactive experience,” Cohen wrote. “YouTube and Goldenvoice will continue to build on this experience, giving people at home new ways to connect with their favorite artists and discover new music at the festival.”