Ongoing History of New Music

Ongoing History Daily: Was this the first livestreaming event?

When the pandemic hit last year and concerts were cancelled, a big pivot was made to livestreaming gigs. Most people believe this to be a new thing, and for the most part it is. But let’s not forget The Macintosh New York Music Festival, which happened in July 1995.

About 350 bands played at 15 venues across the city and while you were encouraged to come and see things live, the festival was also made available online. Again, this was 1995 when the public was barely aware that the internet existed. Those who did had to make sure with slow dial-up modems. Connections were bad, the audio was shoddy, and the video was atrocious.

But it worked—in concept, anyway—and the 1995 Mac Music Fest has gone down in history as the first attempt at livestreaming a festival.

Read more here.

Friday’s post was on a very weird video shoot. And don’t forget to check out my podcast The Ongoing History of New Music where you listen on SpotifyApple PodcastsGoogleStitcher, or wherever you get your on-demand audio.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 37925 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

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