WIRED (US) - ‘Exclusive: Fabchannel Scores Major-Label Live Concert Streaming Deal’
Fabchannel, which webcasts shows from the best two venues in Amsterdam (Paradiso and Melkweg), is one reason 2008 will be the year live music webcasting makes sense. The company plans to announce a deal Tuesday with Universal Music Netherlands that will let it offer free, ad-supported webcasts of Universal Music artists’ shows at those venues. Universal artists slated to record shows over the next few months include Richard Bona, Ian Brown, Chamillionaire, DJ Shadow, Feist, Amy McDonald, Method Man, Kate Nash, Roni Size, Sigur Rós, Willie Nelson and more. Webcasts are subject to artist and manager approval, but Fabchannel CEO Justin Kniest said only two or three artists out of the thousand or so the site has recorded have declined to have their shows webcast. Kniest said the deal covers viewers from around the globe, rather than just those in Holland, despite the fact |
that the agreement is technically with Universal Music Netherlands. With the addition of Universal’s artists to its already impressive roster of live shows, Fabchannel could attract lots of attention worldwide. In addition to streaming live shows as they occur, the site lets shows be embedded on blogs and social networks for free. Fabchannel plans to charge only for audio and audio/video downloads.
As part of the deal, Universal gets a share of revenue from Fabchannel’s ads, which include 10-second video ads that run before the show, plus access to Fabchannel’s recordings of its artists, which Universal Music Group gets to stream and sell on its own sites. Fabchannel uses four camera angles and high-quality sound recording equipment for these shows, so Universal gets a valuable new source of original content from its artists, and fans get a great high-end alternative to fuzzy, distorted concert videos on YouTube. Monday, February 25th 2008 |
Tags: concerts, deal, fabchannel, international, online music, streaming, universal music, webcasting, Wired
