Live onstage, and at home

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).