The much-advertised “Give One Minute of Your Life to Stop Aids” 46664 music concert, to be held in Cape Town on November 29, will urge the meeting of technology and music like never before.
The title refers to the prison number of Nelson Mandela ,who, together with Dave Stewart, Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen, developed the concept of a worldwide concert broadcast across three media for a single cause: the fight against Aids.
Taking place at Green Point stadium in Cape Town, the concert is expected to attract more than 40 000 spectators, with billions worldwide tuning in through other media. Partnering to bring the concert through the different media are Tiscali and MTV, as well as a number of telephone operators around the globe.
But what makes this concept unique? Concerts have for years been used to raise awareness and, more importantly, money for the sake of poverty, disease or human consciousness. Live Aid in the 1980s was one such concert. So what sets 46664 apart from the rest?
It is set to be broadcast across radio, television and the Internet. Other smaller concerts have been broadcast as data across the Internet, but never on such a global scale.
With the use of streaming technologies we will have access to the concert and not only tune into the events of the evening, but also interact with people across the globe. Not only is this concert testimony to the merging of technologies, but it is also one of the world’s largest collaborative efforts.
According to Diego Massidda, CEO of Tiscali South Africa, there is no way a single service provider could host an event of this scale. Not only would one provider not have the technology, but its geographical footprint would be limiting.
“The concert is going to be broadcast across the world, and it is going out to places that we just don’t cover … we have, in the same nature of the concert, extended ourselves and looked for partners who may even be competitors in other regions,” said Massidda.
Logistically, how does one pull off something like this? According to Massidda, the webcast will be streamed by live feed to Italy via satellite links. The power of the transmission lies in the global network of the Internet and, although locally we have always had issues with bandwidth, the fact that the concert will be piped into a global backbone provides a small stepping stone over the issue.
The concert is not just for the enjoyment of the masses. It is there to raise hard cash to assist with the battle against the virus. Pledge lines have been set up so that people can contribute to the cause.
The 46664 website, set up by Tiscali, has been designed as a portal. It gives people a sneak preview of some of the tracks written by contributing artists for the cause and the concert. One such track is Long Walk to Freedom, written by Bono, Stewart and Joe Strummer. Visitors will be able to purchase the tracks, download ringtones, make donations and leave their e-mail addresses for future use.
Telephone networks around the world have secured lines for people to call and hear messages from the likes of Beyoncé Knowles, David Bowie, Robert de Niro, Britney Spears and Pink. In the United States AT&T has come to the party, in South Africa it is Vodacom, and in the United Kingdom a premium line has been set aside.
Craig Hinds, lead singer of the popular South African band Watershed, also playing at the concert, said: “This concert is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for musicians to get involved with a global event. All of the artists have donated their time to the cause and have worked in close collaboration. It is a wonderful opportunity for exposure on a global scale, and the fact that we are doing it for something worthwhile makes it even more powerful.”
The concert might well be a world first, but the real coup is for technology. It is finally mature enough to take the next leap, where through the converged and collaborative efforts of telephony, the Internet and video, we are able to reach people right across the world with a single, powerful message, using potentially the world’s strongest medium — music.
Unable to get to a television? View it by connecting to the Internet. Don’t have a PC? Then why not listen to it over the phone? No phone, television or PC? Then why not just turn on the radio? The irony, however, is that the majority of people the concert will benefit have none of the above. Most of Africa’s people living with Aids stay in remote areas not only void of technology, but also of basic necessities such as running water and electricity.
The line-up is impressive, the concept enormous, the logistics a nightmare, the cause a worthy one. Will they pull it off? One thing is for sure, there is one brand worldwide as powerful as Coca-Cola and that is Mandela — and with his support and the proceeds going to the Nelson Mandela Foundation for distribution to people living with Aids, we can probably write this one off as a hit.