Apple's Month-Long Music Festival Returns Tomorrow - Forbes

Unbeknownst to most Americans, in addition to everything else they do, Apple is in the music festival business…kind of.

The company has been operating the London-based iTunes Festival for years now, with the eighth edition starting tomorrow. The festival is 30 days long, hosting one show per day. Every night features a carefully curated group of artists whose styles work well together. While a single night might be devoted to electronic dance or rock, the festival itself features all kinds of music, typically featuring only the biggest artists and pairing them with hot up-and-comers.

As I said, Apple is in the business of festivals, but I made sure to throw in the “kind of” because the iTunes Festival isn’t a moneymaker for the tech giant in the typical way. Apple doesn’t sell tickets to any of the shows, instead using it as a massive promotional tool, giving away all open slots and allowing anyone to watch for free online, hoping it spurs sales of tracks and albums.

The iTunes Festival (via Apple)

iTunes users around the world can win tickets to the festival through competitions run by local media partners. In the UK, fans can get passes by entering a lottery on iTunes, as well as through select media partners including Global Radio and the London Evening Standard. The shows are all held at the historic Roundhouse venue in London.

For those who use Apple TV, this year the festival will even have it’s own channel. Users will be able to stream the concerts live as they happen, as well as watch them afterwards.

While the iTunes Festival has always been based in London, this year the company began to branch out, bringing a shorter version to the States for the first time. Apple held an iTunes Festival-lite during this year’s South By Southwest, with five nights of shows ranging from country (Keith Urban) to hip-hop (Kendrick Lamar). The company hasn’t said yet whether they have plans to do so again in the US.

Since the festival’s inception, over 400 artists have performed, and countless millions have watched, many online. This year’s lineup still has one or two dates to fill, but so far headliners include David Guetta, Tony Bennett, Sam Smith, Maroon 5, Pharrell, and Ed Sheeran. The shows begin tomorrow evening (London time), but will be available for a period of time to watch afterwards.

via apple - Google News http://ift.tt/1tn1rZS