Billboard Magazine Shows Free Concerts Online

Billboard Magazine has launched a new website to allow fans to watch concerts by major artists online, and believe it or not, it's for free. Maybe the best part about the new site is that it also allows viewers to choose from five different camera angles while watching the show. And they've also made the concert application available for iPhone, although I can't imagine anyone sitting through a couple of hours of phone watching.

Upcoming BillboardLive.com concerts will feature performances by Alicia Keys, Usher, David Archuleta, Daughtry (who's next up on the 19th) and other artists yet to be announced. Fans will also be able to interact with Twitter or Facebook during the concert without leaving the performance website, which is a pretty good viral marketing tool for the artists (as long as they don't have a bad night).

Since Billboard is an industry insider magazine, it's interesting for them to try to brand themselves in consumer land. They're also up for sale (they've been shedding subscribers and advertisers for some time due to the industry downturn), which probably indicates that this is a motion to increase their sale price. That being said, it's obviously not a revenue generator, and chances are it never will be. Given how badly their Billboard Live clubs venture went, it should be interesting to see how this one plays out.