In a bid to challenge YouTube, MySpace and Yahoo!, Microsoft has announced yesterday that it is going to stream live concerts to its users in a big way. This follows the signing of the exclusive worldwide deal with Control Room (previously known as Network Live). Control Room was behind the highly successful web broadcast of last year’s Live 8 event. Now
The move to offer major live performances online is the latest move by Microsoft to drive both consumer and advertiser growth on its sites with a range of new entertainment and media features to challenge or differentiate itself from rivals including Yahoo Inc., YouTube Inc. and News Corp.’s MySpace.
In the agreement MSN will exclusively webcast 36 different live events on its 42 sites worldwide. This will also be available for on-demand viewing afterward for an agreed period. The shows will be ad supported and free for the viewers.
The first show that MSN with webcast is a live performance by singer John Legend in London.
This is a major, major scoop by MSN. Going by the popularity and success of previous webcasts, this is surely going to be a killer for Microsoft.
News: Washington Post
