Sydney power trio Wolfmother yesterday (Oct. 24) became the first act in Australia to stream a live concert in “real time” to mobile phones.
The move aims to bring the Modular/Universal band closer to its fans Down Under; the trio have been away from Australia for five months on an international tour.
Wolfmother’s set was taped at the 150-capacity Melbourne venue the Chapel.
The show was uploaded via the Internet, encoded and compressed for 3G cell phones and put on Vodafone’s mobile-TV broadcast server.
As a result, the 250,000 customers of wireless carrier Vodafone’s 3G high-speed service could tap into the gig via their handsets with just a few seconds’ delay.
The number of 3G cell-phone owners who streamed the gig will not be known until tomorrow (Oct. 25), a Vodafone spokesperson says.
The show, produced by MCM entertainment, will be screened on the free-to-air Ten Network’s “Vodafone Live! At The Chapel” series on Nov. 21.
Subscribers can also download five tracks from the concert to their cell phones from next week at A$2.49 ($1.89) a track.
George Ash, managing director of Universal Music Australia, said: “Not only is this a first, but it ensures that Wolfmother’s fans can connect with them at any place and at any time.”
