Melon is a livestreaming app you can use from within your browser, on any operating system. Its role is to be the go-to solution for going live in seconds. And best of all - you can get started for free!

Mike Shields, Community Manager for Melon, recently joined us on Speedify LIVE to talk about industry trends, the future of livestreaming and how Melon can be your go-to livestreaming tool for any situation. As a community manager, Mike's role is to be the interface between users and the team that works on the app, so we've got a guest that has seen a lot and always has his ear to the ground.

Here are out 5 takeaways from our chat with Mike Shields:

1. We’re told that the main advantage of Melon is that you can stream with it from anywhere, on the go, from any device! You don’t need to install any software, just go to melonapp.com, sign in, and you’re ready to stream, no complicated setup needed. 
2. Mike’s advice to potential streamers: just start streaming! Once you get comfortable with the camera, you can move on to focusing on lighting, numbers and other aspects of streaming. But first you will need to get used to being on camera. 
3. What sets Melon apart from other streaming tools is their focus on their community and that they do their best to actually listen to them. Mike even leads a bi-weekly Community Stream on Twitch called Melon Report where he chats with users, which helps build Melon’s new features and updates around users’ requests and needs, and implement them as best as they can. 
4. When it comes to building an audience, Mike says you need to make viewers feel like they’re part of the show. Interact with them, and don’t be afraid to stop and answer their questions about you, the stream, or anything else.
5. Mike has just recently updated his streaming equipment, which lead to him experiencing a kind of Streamergency of his own. His new camera overheated and shut off, so the stream just froze on a certain frame. In his panic, Mike ended up unplugging and re-plugging everything, went live again, and when he was still stuck there frozen, he had to end the stream. Turned out the camera didn’t like the USB port it was using. Lesson learned: do thorough testing when switching up your gear!