LiveXLive to Ride Verizon’s Cloud

Verizon Digital Media Services (VDMS), the video cloud unit of Verizon Communications, said it is powering LiveXLive, Loton Corp.’s new premium, live music-streaming network.

Verizon Digital Media Services said its platform is handling the ingest, delivery and distribution LiveXLive’s streaming of global music festivals, concerts and other performances in high definition. VDMS said it will also enable LiveXLive to create clips from live events and publish them to social platforms and “syndicated outlets” via a unified workflow.

Working with VDMS, LiveXLive plans to broadcast three day-long music festivals across multiple stages this fall, reaching across multiple devices including mobile, tablets, laptops, gaming consoles and connected TVs.  The plan also covers live and on-demand “virtual reality experiences,” the companies said.

“We’ve been watching Verizon Digital Media Services expand its network while adding to and enhancing its suite of services, and we’re completely blown away by the turnkey, scalable offering of their video platform,” said John Petrocelli, president of LiveXLive, in a statement.

“Verizon Digital Media Services allows LiveXLive to give music fans everywhere an immersive experience to see their favorite festivals, concerts and backstage experiences on any screen, any platform and any device in HD,” added Ralf Jacob, chief revenue officer of Verizon Digital Media Services.

In April 2014, Loton acquired a 50% interest in KOKO, a one of London’s major live music venues.  The LiveXLive advisory board includes Andy Schuon, co-founder of REVOLT and former head of programming at MTV and VH1; Jason Flom, CEO of Lava Records; Chris McGurk, former COO of MGM and CEO of Cinedigm;  and Steve Bornstein, former CEO of ESPN and the NFL Network, among others.