11/29/00
Madonna and MSN rocks the globe with the world’s biggest web cast

9 million net fans go mad for Madonna

The world’s biggest pop star, Madonna, last night performed her first Internet concert to the biggest online audience of all time. Her sensational return to the stage was seen by an estimated 9 million fans across six continents who clicked their approval on the UK’s number one web site, MSN.co.uk, where the show was exclusively web cast in conjunction with MadonnaMusic.com.

Fans witnessed the star, dressed in sequined t-shirt bearing her children’s names Rocco and Lola, perform her current hits Music and Don’t Tell Me and the classic Holiday at a packed London’s Brixton Academy. Among the star-studded audience were Mick Jagger, Kylie Minogue, Sting, Ali G, Mel C and Natalie Appleton who added to the sensational atmosphere.

Only 2,800 ecstatic fans were in the audience for last night’s historic show but MSN provided a free front seat view. And the resulting online broadcast attracted a massive response from fans as far away as Australia, China, Japan and Latin America. Fans can see the concert for the next two weeks on msn.co.uk/madonna and on MadonnaMusic.com.

Tracy Blacher, Marketing Manager at MSN said: “This was the performance of a lifetime. It was historic for Madonna and for MSN and will be remembered as the most ambitious web event in history, which drew the biggest Internet audience ever. MSN.co.uk gave people the chance to see and hear Madonna’s fantastic return to the stage and witness the first ever online live performance for free, and they responded in record numbers. This was a huge success for MSN and Madonna – no-one has ever attempted anything on this scale before, we broke new ground.”

Throughout the event the MSN sites worldwide stayed online and were more than able to handle the tremendous amount of internet traffic. Some users may have experienced delays because of sheer weight of internet traffic, or pressure on their local ISPs.

Other users may have experienced temporary delays as they queued to access the video and audio streams. But by the time Madonna went live they had been rerouted to different servers around the world where demand was less intense — such as Australia which was still asleep. This was done to ensure everyone had the best picture and audio quality for their connection speed.

Tracy Blacher said: “We have had emails from hundreds of people around the world telling us how much they enjoyed the gig. Anyone who hasn’t seen it yet can go to msn.co.uk/madonna for the next two weeks and see what everyone’s talking about.”

The concert was webcast using Microsoft Windows Media technology, which provides the highest quality audio and video regardless of connection speed. In a ground-breaking move, MSN will offered a near-DVD-quality stream at 700 kbps for fans with extremely fast Internet connections. This is believed to be the first time a live concert has been webcast at these rates, replicating the live atmosphere in a way never experienced before online. The event was also webcast at 300 kbps, offering near-VHS-quality video, as well as 128 and 80 and 56 kbps, and an audio-only 28.8 kbps stream.

The event was webcast in association with MadonnaMusic.com, MediaWave and Done and Dusted all streaming the live show using Windows Media Player 7, which is downloadable for free at the MSN homepage.

Madonna’s Brixton concert is the latest in a line of concert webcasts from the MSN.co.uk site which has also included Paul McCartney’s return to the Cavern Club — previous record holder for the largest web cast and seen by 3 million people – Robbie Williams return to Manchester, and Mel C’s final show of her nationwide tour.

11/28/00
Madonna’s Brixton Academy performance in London not only wowed the pants off of some 3,500 fans -Madonnamusic.com attendees, local radio contest winners, various invited celebs and the like – but it also smashed the record for the most-viewed Internet webcast in the relatively short history of cyberspace with an estimated 9 million viewers (rumor has it they’re still trying to figure out how to count in Florida, though). Says Liz “The Validator” Rosenberg of our girl’s fab performance: “Madonna is thrilled to pieces about the webcast’s success. But the most joyous thing is that she was reminded how much she loves to perform,” adding that a summer tour is “a distinct possibility.” Click here for more details on this momentous event.

11/28/00
On Monday evening, November 27, MadonnaMusic.com was awarded in the Design category as the best website at the Flash Film Festival, held at London’s National Film Theatre. Madonna’s site was selected as one of five finalists by a panel of leading artistic and technical web experts. From there, her victory was determined by a public vote online. Congratulations Madonna and thanks to all who voted!

11/20/00
After turning in one awesome performance at the Roseland Ballroom in NYC on November 5th, Madonna announces her next invitation-only concert appearance at London’s Brixton Academy on Tuesday, November 28th. Richard Ashcroft and Texas will open the show, and Prodigy’s Liam Howlett is set to DJ. The show will also be webast live around the world on MSN.

11/16/00
Madonna and Eminem topped the winners at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2000, presented Thursday in Stockholm. Madonna’s worldwide smash Maverick album “Music” helped her pick up prizes for best dance artist and best female artist. She also turned out a great live performance of her hit single Music. Way to go Madonna!

http://www.billboard.com/daily/2000/1116_10.asp

11/13/00
Madonna wins Best International Female Artist at Spain’s Amigo Awards (she did not attend the ceremony). She was alost nominated for Best International Album as well.

11/9/00
MadonnaMusic.com has been nominated as one of five finalists in the Design Category for the Flash Film Festival, Monday, November 27, at the National Film Theater in London.

A jury of top Flash developers and designers chose the finalists from thousands of nominations. Winners are determined by public vote. Voting ends Monday, November 20, so spread the word and vote for Madonna’s site!

http://www.flashfilmfestival.com/vote/

11/6/00
From Excite News
Madonna Makes Some Live
by Emily Farache

Madonna played a little night Music Sunday at New York’s Roseland Ballroom.

Adhering to the less-is-more principle, the Material Girl, in a rare live appearance, performed five tunes from her new album during a 30-minute set in what may be a warm-up for her first U.S. tour in seven years.

While a half-hour performance hardly qualifies as a concert, the standing-room-only crowd of 3,000 wasn’t complaining–after all, the show, billed as a “thank-you” to fans, was a freebie, with tickets given away by local radio stations. (The show’s brevity wasn’t a surprise: When announcing the one-night stand, Madonna said she would only do a handful of selections from her double-platinum-selling Music.)

“I’m so happy to be onstage again!” exclaimed Madonna, who was clad in black leather pants, a blank tank top emblazoned with “Britney Spears” and the requisite cowboy hat and boots.

The show opened with the mother of two sprawled atop a ’65 Ford pickup truck and her boy-toy dancers beneath a giant American flag. (The singer, who gave birth to Rocco just three months ago, has apparently shed all her pregnancy pounds.)

The crowd gave the biggest ovation for her recent chart-topping hit “Music,” but the packed dance floor went crazy on every song, including the slower paced “What it Feels Like to be a Girl.”

The show wasn’t without its hitches, though. The sound was a bit of a problem (not unusual for the club–just ask Fiona Apple), with the thumping dance beats often overpowering Madonna’s famously flimsy voice, despite the singer using some pretaped vocals. But the crowd didn’t care, they just shrieked every time she gyrated with her two backup singers and four bare-chested male dancers.

Madonna was downright chatty during her skimpy set, even harkening back to her “Borderline” and “Lucky Star” days for a little history lesson. “The last time I played Roseland was 18 years ago,” she recalled. “I was the opening act for New Edition. Now I have a bathrobe with my name on it, too!”

Celebs like Gwyneth Paltrow, Rosie O’Donnell and designer Donatella Versace sat in a roped-off VIP section.

Everlast opened the show with tunes off his new Eat At Whitey’s disc, while former Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Farrell, vocalist Beth Orton and DJ Deepdish also made cameos to stretch the evening’s entertainment.

Madonna is expected to go on tour early next year, but no dates or cities have been set.