Local musician Zachary Freitas will perform original songs as a solo artist and will be joined by his bandmates forming Kizmet on Saturday, March 21 at 6 p.m. local time on concertwindow.com, which live-streams music in high definition to the Internet. The show is free to watch and tips are more than welcome, the artist says.
The technology for streaming live events has been around for years, but Concert Window allows musicians to play online shows — and make money doing it. This is good news for musicians like Freitas — a San Benito High School graduate — hit hard by the plunge in royalties and CD sales. From the Concert Window web site: "We are a team of musicians, music lovers, and tech enthusiasts, working out of Techstars in NYC. We started Concert Window because we're passionate about bringing live concerts online, in a way that helps musicians, venues, and fans. We're tackling a big market and loving it."
Concerts can be broadcast using an iPad, iPhone, laptop computer or more sophisticated equipment such as a Tricaster multi-camera live video studio for any desktop computer. For the audience, a laptop concert is a different sort of experience than being at a regular venue. The performer can't see or hear the audience but can read their chat and questions. There's a lag time, sometimes up to 15 seconds, that makes it tough to have anything like a normal conversation. Yet it feels very intimate, according to Concert Window.
Tune into Concert Window on Saturday at 6 p.m. and support local musicians.