JJ Lin’s Sanctuary virtual concert fraught with ‘streaming issues’
“It’s not working at all. The song cannot even finish playing, It’s stuck for minutes and plays only for a few seconds … It’s the worst experience ever,” said a viewer.
Mandopop singer JJ Lin’s Sanctuary World Tour came to an end on Saturday (Jul 10). The tour kicked off in March 2018, toured 43 cities and was watched by more than 1.6 million people.
However, the highly anticipated live broadcast of the Sanctuary Finale Virtual Concert was fraught with “streaming issues”.
The live broadcast kicked off at 8pm with Lin making a grand entrance in a white suit with exaggerated shoulders. The telecast soon started to lag and eventually lapsed into a frozen black screen.
Viewers of the ticketed concert took to the online chat box to complain of the lag and expressed their disappointment at not being able to watch the concert.
A viewer wrote: “Sigh…one year in the making and let down by the SISTIC server…”
Said another: "It’s not working at all. The song cannot even finish playing, It’s stuck for minutes and plays only for a few seconds…It’s the worst experience ever."
“We watching magic show, every time I refresh, it will be a different outfit, it’s not a concert, it’s a magic show that I signed up for,” wrote a third.
At the end of the concert, Lin addressed the issue. He said it was a “pity” that lagging issues disrupted the virtual concert, and went on to thank his partners involved in the concert, including Sistic. The singer promised viewers that he would talk to Sistic about compensation.
Event organiser Sistic took to Facebook to apologise for the technical glitch. “We are devastated that despite our best efforts, Sistic was unable to resolve streaming issues with our technical partner whom we rely on for certain aspects of the live broadcast of JJ Lin Sanctuary Finale Virtual Concert,” said CEO Joe Ow.
“As disappointed as we are about the outcome, we believe the disappointment of JJ fans are much greater. I would like to apologise unreservedly to JJ Lin, his fans, JFJ Productions, Unusual Entertainment, Isotope Productions, Partners and all crew members who worked so hard to make this highly anticipated show a reality,” he added.
Sistic will offer a refund to affected viewers, as well as the chance to watch the virtual concert at a later date.