Sony Music Entertainment and the Digital Club Network today announced a partnership to produce, record, and deliver webcasts of live concerts, beginning with a series of performances by Columbia Records artists later this summer.
Digital Club Network records and webcasts more than 100 live performances each week by new and established artists, from its network of world class clubs including the Fox Theatre in Boulder, Colo., Austin’s La Zona Rosa, the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., and Brownies in New York City. The company has webcast more than 4,000 concerts since it began streaming live events in summer 2000.
Mark Ghuneim, senior vice president of online and emerging technologies for Columbia Records commented, “We’re very excited by the opportunity this affords our artists to reach a wider audience. Our artists are constantly playing the venues that make up the Digital Club Network. This deal allows us to take advantage of the DCN infrastructure and bring to the fans the excitement of the live performances of our artists on their websites.”
“This relationship underscores the fact that webcasting live performances is becoming an integral part of the music industry’s effort to reach audiences, wherever they may be,” noted DCN co-founder and CEO Andrew Rasiej. “Sony Music has consistently proven to be very forward-thinking in their marketing strategy. Their artists and their fans are the big winners with this agreement.”