Mobile Concert

BusinessWeek: Are you going to miss the Rolling Stones playing Paris on July 28? Well, if you’re a Cingular Wireless subscriber, you don’t have to. Cingular is using innovative new technology that lets its customers dial a number that connects them to a live feed of the Stones rocking the Stade de France, in Paris. A buck ninety-nine gets you seven minutes of Jagger & Co. The clarity depends, in part, on the quality of your phone’s speakers. But the call isn’t to some Stones groupie holding up a phone from the bleachers. This connection goes straight to the band’s mixing board. So, “the sound quality is superior,” says Anthony Macaluso, founder of Single Touch Interactive, which developed the listen-live technology Cingular is using.
Here’s how it works: Interested users register for the concert ahead of time by pressing pound (#) and 106, then hitting the send button as if they were making a call. Callers then confirm that they want the service. That’s it. When the concert is about to begin, they get an automated call on their mobile phone letting them know the concert is starting. If you miss the call, you can dial pound 106 and tap right into the concert. You can also register on the Web at www.listenlivenow.com.
A Cingular Stones Concert [BusinessWeek]