Coming to a PC Near You: Woodstock ’99

When the Victoria’s Secret Web site jammed up during its online fashion show in February, Rand Bleimeister said, he knew he could make money by producing Webcasts.

This week, his start-up company, Pasadena-based Woodstock.com, is set to unveil a plan to broadcast 62 hours of live music from the Woodstock ’99 Art and Music Festival in Rome, N.Y. Although the site will offer backstage interviews, online chats and other editorial content, the live performances by Alanis Morissette, Metallica, Willie Nelson and other acts are supposed to be the main draw.

Some technologists, such as Andrew Cromarty, who manages network entertainment technology at Compaq Computer, have said they think today’s broadband connections still aren’t good enough to deliver quality entertainment via the Web. But Rick Bender, director of online media for the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, said Webcasts can be compelling today if they combine streaming video with interactive elements such as chat and e-commerce.

Bleimeister, Woodstock.com’s chief executive, will know who is right after the three-day Webcast ends early in the morning of July 26. In the meantime, Woodstock.com’s parent company, MusicNow, is moving ahead with plans to develop other music and entertainment sites. MusicNow, jointly owned by Idealab and Woodstock Ventures, just raised $5 million in venture capital with the help of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Bleimeister said.