YouTube will remain the exclusive global livestream home of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival through 2030. YouTube and Goldenvoice, the AEG-owned promoter that produces the festival, renewed their exclusive livestream and content partnership, YouTube announced on its official blog on Wednesday, Sept. 23. The agreement covers both weekends of the festival. YouTube did not disclose financial terms, Music Business Worldwide reports.
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan announced the deal on stage at the company's annual Made on YouTube event in New York City, The Hollywood Reporter reports. "We're excited to bring the energy of the desert to millions of music fans around the world," Mohan said. The blog post announcing the renewal was written by Lyor Cohen, YouTube's global head of music, who also appeared at the event, according to Deadline.
Deal timeline
The renewal extends an arrangement that was set to expire after the 2026 festival. YouTube and Goldenvoice announced the previous multi-year renewal in January 2023, running through 2026, Variety reported at the time. The 2023 festival was YouTube's 11th year as Coachella's exclusive worldwide livestream partner, per that report.
The partnership reaches 15 years in April 2027, according to YouTube. Neither Goldenvoice nor parent company AEG Presents issued a statement alongside the announcement, per Music Business Worldwide. Goldenvoice also produces the Stagecoach country festival.
What the stream includes
YouTube said the livestream has grown from a single feed into live coverage with several interactive features. Viewers can watch multiple stages at once through multiview, watch sets alongside creators, view exclusive backstage Shorts from artists, and buy festival merchandise on the platform. Coverage now spans every stage across both weekends, the Los Angeles Times reports. Deadline reports that YouTube first rolled out multiview for Coachella in 2024 before making it a core feature of YouTube TV.
"As we look toward 2027, YouTube will continue delivering behind-the-scenes access and exclusive artist content," Cohen wrote.
A record 2026 audience
The 2026 festival, headlined by Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber and Karol G, set the record for the most viewers watching at one time in the history of Coachella on YouTube, according to the company. YouTube did not provide a viewership figure, Music Business Worldwide notes. Variety reports the edition was the platform's most-watched Coachella livestream ever.
Bieber's headline set incorporated footage from his own catalog of YouTube music videos. His music video views rose 221% after that set, according to a Vevo study published in July, per Music Business Worldwide. Karol G spent three times what she was paid for her set, treating Coachella as a brand-building exercise, The Hollywood Reporter reports.
YouTube's blog post also cited Beyoncé's "Homecoming" set and BLACKPINK's 2023 headline slot as past livestream moments.
Other Made on YouTube announcements
At the same event, YouTube said more than 600 million logged-in viewers watched live content on the platform each day on average in August, the Los Angeles Times reports. New live tools include a co-hosting function that lets two creators appear on one stream and a live auto-dubbing tool that translates speech in real time. Several of those updates roll out in early 2027.
For music, YouTube introduced an AI "Ask" feature across YouTube and YouTube Music that answers questions about videos and songs and suggests new music, rolling out later this year, Variety reports. YouTube Music is also testing an AI-driven "podcast lineup" feature later this year.
Competitive context
Spotify has held talks with festival promoters over rights to carry live concert video, Bloomberg reported in June, according to Music Business Worldwide. YouTube in June launched Music Nights, a concert series filming artists at small venues around their album releases. YouTube last reported 125 million paid subscribers to YouTube Music and Premium worldwide, including trials, in March 2025.
Uristocrat previously reported that YouTube passed Netflix in daily viewing time and that Meta and YouTube expanded their roles at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival. Bieber, one of the 2026 Coachella headliners, later joined the World Cup final halftime show.
Source: YouTube Blog, Music Business Worldwide, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Variety, Los Angeles Times
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