MSN現場直播更多演唱會

“Honey, where are my dancing shoes?!”
MSN In Concert back in 2008; to stream more top-charting performance this year

Kuala Lumpur, February 21, 2008 — Dreaming of catching that awesome concert in Madison Square Garden, New York or at Royal Albert Hall, London but won’t be in the vicinity anytime soon? Well fret no more. MSN In Concert together with Control Room, which brought the best live music online in 2007, is back in 2008 with more breathtaking performances from the best entertainers around the world.

With top-charting artists such as Amy Winehouse, Avril Lavigne, Elton John, Rihanna, Maroon 5, and Kylie Minogue already in its archives, MSN In Concert will continue to provide people with the best way to experience high-quality access to live concerts from the most popular, top-selling musical artists as well as today’s most talked-about breakthrough acts. Starting the line-up in 2008 is Sheryl Crow, Chris Brown and Lenny Kravitz.

Sheryl Crow’s concert can be viewed on MSN, beginning March 6, 2008 at 8:00pm on http://msninconcert.msn.com/music/SherylCrow/en-my/artist.aspx. Visitors can go the MSN page now to view her music videos, photos, album covers and other highlights.

Richard Huggins, Acting General Manager, Microsoft Online Services Group, Southeast Asia, said, “We are thrilled to continue delivering live and on-demand music to the desktops and living rooms of our MSN and Windows Live users all over the world, and here in Malaysia. Our collaboration with Control Room enables performers to easily connect with fans across the globe, and fans with performers, while providing people with the best way to experience high-quality content featuring their favorite artists.”

There are 50 million MSN and Windows Live users in Asia Pacific, 7.4 million users in Malaysia, who use MSN and Windows Live services, such as Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Search, Windows Live Spaces, Windows Live Mail and the MSN portal.

Last year, MSN In Concert provided exclusive live broadcast coverage of the Live Earth concerts that promotes awareness about the threat of global warming. More than 8 million people tuned in to over 15 million streams, with peak simultaneous viewership of 237,000 people; making it the most watched entertainment event in online history to date.

Kevin Wall, founder and producer of Live Earth said, “By providing the opportunity to view the shows in their entirety online, coupled with our unique solutions campaign, we’re able to communicate our message on a mass scale in a way that engages people and inspires them to act.”

The most-Streamed artist on MSN In Concert for 2007 was Rihanna, who won the Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 2008 Grammy Awards with Jay-Z for "Umbrella". Rihanna had fans from across the globe accessing MSN Music to catch the star’s stadium performance from Montreal’s Bell Centre. In addition to “Umbrella,” Rihanna dazzled concert goers and fans at home with hits “Pon de Replay,” “Unfaithful” and “Break it Off.”

During the first week of the concert’s online broadcast, Rihanna’s live performance was streamed to more than 1 million times and doubled streams for the following week, making it the most-streamed concert by any single artist on MSN In Concert for the year. The concert is still available on MSN In Concert at http://msninconcert.msn.com/music/Rihanna/en-my/artist.aspx

Fans of Sheryl Crow, the nine-timing Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter, would be pleased to know that MSN In Concert will be streaming an intimate live preview of her upcoming album, Detours. The concert was originally performed at New York’s Irving Plaza on February 7, 2008.

Sheryl Crow said that Detours was inspired by "how I feel things are going in the world and what's happened to me the last couple of years.”

The sold out show debuts some of the multi-platinum performer’s most emotionally and politically charged work yet – from the Hurricane Katrina inspired single “Love Is Free” to the anti-war track “Peace Be Upon Us.” Crow rose to fame in the 90s with classic sing-along songs like “All I Wanna Do,” ”If It Makes You Happy,” and “Everyday Is A Winding Road” and hasn’t stopped cranking out the hits since.

When: Starting at 8:00pm on Thursday, March 6, 2008
Where: Through MSN at http://msninconcert.msn.com/music/SherylCrow/en-my/artist.aspx