The Tibetan Freedom Concert becomes an early large-scale Internet concert broadcast
The two-day Tibetan Freedom Concert in San Francisco was broadcast over the Internet by SonicNet and partners, reaching tens of thousands of online listeners in addition to the enormous physical audience.
Historical context
By 1996, RealAudio and other technologies had made Internet audio broadcasting feasible, but large simultaneous audiences remained a severe infrastructure challenge. Live music also provided a compelling reason to test whether the Internet could bypass traditional television and radio gatekeepers.
What happened
The first Tibetan Freedom Concert took place on June 15 and 16, 1996. When conventional television networks did not provide the desired live coverage, organizers worked with Internet media and streaming technology partners to distribute the event online. A later oral history reported approximately 36,000 Internet viewers or listeners and described it as the first online broadcast attempted at that scale.
Consequences
The event demonstrated that a large music and activist gathering could reach a significant remote audience without a traditional live television network. It became an early model for large-scale concert webcasts, benefit-event streaming and direct online distribution of cultural events.
Related people
Sources
- The Anti-Woodstock '99: An Oral History of the Tibetan Freedom ConcertPitchfork
- SonicNet Has Its Ear to the WebSan Francisco Chronicle / SFGATE