Thanks to improved tech, easy-to-use mobile hotspots and the prevalence of high-speed internet access, more and more funeral homes are now offering live-streaming of services to friends and family members who cannot be in attendance.
Though the practice of live-streaming funerals began more than a decade ago, it has “exploded in popularity,” and the president-elect of the National Funeral Directors Association, Bryant Hightower, estimated to Wired that nearly 20 percent of U.S. funeral homes now offer the service to loved ones who can’t travel on short notice to pay their respects.
That number is especially notable as the funeral industry has traditionally been very resistant to change.
According to Hightower, live-streaming is more likely to be offered by larger funeral homes in urban areas because their clientele is more likely to have relatives and friends spread throughout the U.S. and the rest of the world.
Also, larger homes are better equipped to some of the aspects of live-streaming — including music licensing. “Funeral homes have to buy a music license in order to allow us to play recorded music from artists at funeral services,” Hightower said. To play that music as part of a live-stream, an additional streaming license is required. “It’s one of those things we’ve had to learn as we go,” he said.
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