Exclusive: Fabchannel Scores Major-Label Live Concert Streaming Deal

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Fabchannel 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 ofrevenue from Fabchannel’s ads, which include 10-second video ads that run before the show, plus access to Fabchannel’srecordings of its artists, which Universal Music Group gets to stream andsell on its own sites.

Fabchannel uses four camera angles and high-quality soundrecording equipment for these shows, so Universal gets a valuable new source oforiginal content from its artists, and fans get a great high-end alternative to fuzzy, distortedconcert videos on YouTube.

We see shows for free and everybody makes money. Perfect.

If you’re wondering what these shows look and sound like, here’s Brazil’s CSS performing in the main hall at Paradiso:

Fabchannel and Universal Music Netherlands issued the following statements about the deal.

JustinKniest, CEO of Fabchannel:

This isa significant step forward for Fabchannel. The quality of UniversalMusic artists contributes to our goal of offering our viewers thehottest and broadest selection of live music. Fabchannel has pioneereda way to bring fans, bands and brands together in a way that’s good foreveryone. Our agreement with Universal Music Netherlands will makeFabchannel’s media-centric experience even more compelling.

Today’snews is a milestone for Fabchannel’s ad-supported live music videomodel, which enables artists, labels and media companies to make theirlive music available. This model also gives brands and businesses newways to connect and interact with a highly-engaged audience ofconsumers in the 25-and-under youth demographic.

Kees van der Hoeven, president, Universal Music Netherlands:

We arelooking forward to creating new content and audio-visual offerings forour music fans through this deal. Fabchannel has created a uniquemedia platform that provides fans an exciting way to enjoy live musicand discover new bands. We want to give fans access to as much musicfrom the bands they love.

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