YouTube is keeping Coachella’s livestreams to itself through 2030. Lyor Cohen, Global Head of Music at YouTube, announced the extension at the company’s Made on YouTube event in New York on Wednesday.
The deal means YouTube will continue to host exclusive broadcasts of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival for at least five more years. Cohen wrote in a blog post that the 2026 edition set a record for live viewership of the event.
The Record Year
Cohen framed the extension as part of a longer relationship. “Over the past decade and a half, the Coachella livestream on YouTube has evolved from a single feed into a full interactive experience,” he 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.”
He also noted that YouTube will mark 15 years of bringing the California desert festival to its global audience.
Why Live Matters
YouTube has been building its live portfolio over the past few years. Its advertising revenue has grown steadily, and the company is now emphasizing live programming.
Last year, YouTube carried its first NFL football game. Starting in 2029, it will stream the Academy Awards. The Coachella deal fits that pattern: it is another major event tied exclusively to the platform.
The livestreams serve a practical purpose too. In many cases, depending on the artist and their rights arrangement, the broadcasts 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.
The Multiview Test
The deal also had a technical purpose. Pay-TV sibling YouTube TV used Coachella as a testbed for 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. Other distributors eventually copied the experience.
What the Extension Means
The extension keeps the livestreams running until 2030. That is a long horizon for a festival broadcast.
For fans who cannot travel to the desert, the deal means they will still be able to see the biggest acts perform live on screen. For artists, it means their headline-grabbing moments continue to reach a global audience without the friction of competing rights deals.
Key Facts
- Extension runs through 2030
- 15 years of YouTube Coachella broadcasts
- 2026 edition set a record for live viewership
- NFL first broadcast: last year
- Academy Awards start on YouTube: 2029
The extension is a vote of confidence in the format. Instead of treating Coachella as a one-off spectacle, YouTube is treating it as a recurring event with a long-term home on the platform.
For viewers, the news is simple: if you want to watch Coachella from home, YouTube will be the place to do it for at least the next five years. That is a relief for anyone who has missed a performance because they could not make the trip to the desert.
See the video the story is built around at Deadline.
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