U2 to play concert live on YouTube

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 20 Oct 2009 at 11:01

U2 will stream a concert live on YouTube this weekend, in what looks set to be the ultimate test of the Google-owned site's bandwidth.

The band will stream the latest leg of its 360 tour live from the Rose Bowl stadium in Los Angeles. The concert will be streamed to 15 countries, including the UK and the US.

The show, which will be available in both HD and standard definition versions, will undoubtedly test YouTube's infrastructure, although the site is reportedly confident that it can cope with "millions" of simultaneous streams.

Demands from the UK may be stymied by the time zone: the concert starts at 8:30pm Pacific Time, which means it will be 3:30am on Monday morning in the UK. A recording of the concert will be available after the show.

The free concert is another landmark in the uneasy relationship between the music and internet industry. That tension was illustrated by none other than YouTube earlier this year, when it pulled music videos off its UK site in a row over royalty payments with the Performing Rights Society. The videos subsequently returned in September.

You can watch the U2 YouTube concert here.