Start with the viewing promise
For an owned event, decide whether the published playlist should continue to describe the beginning while the event is running. An accumulating timeline and a limited moving window make different promises. The word event in a production brief does not itself decide the HLS tag.
RFC 8216 makes an EVENT playlist append-only. A workflow that repeatedly removes old media entries does not fit that declaration. A rolling live window should follow the applicable live rules instead of selecting EVENT because the programme has a ticketed start time.
Work through the resource consequence
In an invented two-hour talk, an accumulating playlist keeps references to the opening as later media arrives. If storage policy deletes the opening after ten minutes, the media availability no longer matches the advertised timeline. Check the combined playlist and retention design before choosing the label.
Conversely, a production that only promises the most recent interval should document that limitation and implement a coherent rolling window. It need not pretend to preserve the entire event merely because a full recording exists elsewhere. The recording and live publication may have separate resource identities.
Plan completion explicitly
Record how the presentation ends and whether an edited VOD asset follows. A finished event can still need caption correction, artwork approval or revised chapter markers. A later VOD generation should have a clear relationship to the original recording without inheriting accidental live-state assumptions.
Review an early snapshot, a mid-event snapshot and closeout together. This reveals whether entries were appended, removed or replaced according to the chosen model. No live event or player compatibility has been tested for this example.
Questions answered
Does every live event need PLAYLIST-TYPE EVENT?
No. Choose it only when the specified append-only behaviour fits the publication.
Can I delete old EVENT entries to save playlist space?
That conflicts with the append-only model. Reconsider the publication design rather than keeping a misleading declaration.
Sources & further reading
Official references for the subjects discussed. Service terms and device software can change.