Hulu's first live-stream concert: Dave Matthews Band
Want to feel old? This album came out 15 years ago.
Hulu will live-stream a concert for the first time: Dave Matthews Band at New York's Beacon Theater on June 1.
The online video hub, which announced the event Thursday, will be the only place streaming the concert live, at least legally.
Pop culture brush-up: the Dave Matthews Band was really, really, really huge in the '90s, known for lengthy live jams, for a Phish-like cult following that skewed more preppy than hippie, and for "Ants Marching," which was inescapable if you ever got anywhere near a frat house between 1994 and 1997. People generally loved them or hated them back then, due in no small part to the fact that they were the soundtrack of choice for the jocks rather than the indie kids or nerds.
It's a good fit for Hulu's first live concert broadcast--the site's first live streaming event was a presidential debate last October. The Dave Matthews Band's original Gen-X and Gen-Y fan base is exactly the demographic of 20- and 30-somethings--though not necessarily tech-savvy ones--who would tune into a concert stream online. And conveniently, the date of the show is the day before the band's long-anticipated new album, "Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King," hits stores online and offline.
Frontman Dave Matthews was, on an unrelated note, one of the first mainstream musicians to use Twitter actively.
Hulu, meanwhile, is riding the wave of mainstream success in the wake of an edgy TV ad campaign and the big news that Disney would be joining News Corp. and NBC Universal as a partner in the joint venture.
Caroline McCarthy, a CNET News staff writer, is a downtown Manhattanite happily addicted to social-media tools and restaurant blogs. Her pre-CNET resume includes interning at an IT security firm and brewing cappuccinos. E-mail Caroline. 
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The Running Tally
http://www.therunningtally.com
The article makes it sound as though DMB has faded into obscurity like Hootie or something. Since when was DMB a band choice for jocks?
Their following is not exactly tech savvy? This one could have fooled me.
I would say that perhaps, instead, that CNET's staff writers aren't very music savvy.
DMB is still a ridiculously popular touring act and every new single gets tons of radio play. The tech savvy comment really surprised me though, as I thought DMB was known to have an extremely tech savvy following. For 10+ years the band has had live, instant updates to each show's setlist on their website, where eager fans on forums or chat rooms will anxiously await the names of new songs or the return of an old favorite. They were one of the first mainstream bands to release a concert on DVD, and then to have a digital download store (with MP3 format downloads no less) years ago.
DMB fans basically pioneered internet-based sharing of (legal) "bootleg" recordings of live concerts, starting with e-mail lists back in the 90s, onto services like FurthurNet, to the forums and blogs that are popular sharing vehicles today. When a new song debuts it often takes hours or less before MP3s and SHNs of it are being distributed around the fan community.
Maybe I'm biased being a longtime fan and a software engineer, but I don't that's it :)
Hulu is a cash boondoggle. In a year's time the verdict will more than likely be that it was a bad idea executed well.
If Hulu would start offering paid downloads and break the habitual free-jack mentality they pervade by giving away something of value for nothing, they would profit and be around for a long long time.
It's easy to fall back on cliche's when you're writing a tiny news piece about Hulu and Dave Matthews Band. Get some fact that you can tie to the cliches.
DMB has been one of the top grossing live performance acts for more than 10 years.
DMB's fansite has been providing media content for more than 10 years.
Just because these comments are random and stream conscientious,
the content of the new stories don't need to be.
Wait, you hadn't finished your Latte before you shot this one out! Nevermind!
Second, for about 10 or 12 years there has been a very active community sharing shows online, which you need to know how to record, upload, download and convert the files to use. We also have an iphone app to see setlists in real time and many fan based message boards and communities.
If the author would like a tutorial for any of these low tech resources just let me know. Me and my crayons will gladly draw you some pictures, stick figures and all.
What is this article really about?!
You IGNORANTLY stereotype ALL DMB fans for 2 paragraphs, then mention oh yea, they're on hulu...
But who cares about that? according to this article, they're a washed up band with only dumb frat boys for fans!
This lady needs to check her sources.
- by tommylei June 1, 2009 2:01 PM PDT
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