Live onstage, and at home

Chinese rocker Wang Feng breaks new ground to broadcast his Beijing concert online in real time, drawing bigger crowds for his upcoming national tour. [Photo/China Daily]

Broadcasting concerts online had once seemed a risky business that would dampen ticket sales, but technology and audience size are combining to make the idea work for both musicians and fans, Chen Nan reports.

Singer-songwriter Wang Feng made a pathbreaking move last week. While pumping up a crowd of more than 60,000 fans with his concert Storming at the National Stadium in Beijing, the 43-year-old rocker became the first in China to broadcast his concert online in real time.

According to Chinese video and movie streaming site LeTV.com, which cut the deal on July 21 to exclusively stream the concert, more than 75,000 users have watched Wang's Aug 2 concert online within two days, with each user paying 30 yuan ($5).

"The partnership opens a new revenue stream for concert organizers and offers a wider platform for musicians to reach more audiences," says Xue Liping, CEO of Compass Culture Co, which ran Wang's concerts for four years.

Ever since Wang announced his 2014-15 tour in early June, his Beijing concert has attracted huge interest. Veteran lighting designer LeRoy Bennett, who has worked with pop icons such as Prince and Lady Gaga, joined his team. It was said the rocker would propose to his actress girlfriend, Zhang Ziyi, at the concert, which fell on Chinese Valentine's Day.

For Xue, whose company has successfully organized concerts for the popular duo Phoenix Legend and veteran singer Mao Amin, finding creative ways to promote concerts is crucial.

"Traditional concert promotion has very low-margins and as a result they have to push the margins in other areas of the business," Xue says.

However, the idea of streaming a concert online was considered risky when Xue began planning it five months ago.