The crowd bristles with excitement as the first DJ of the night winds down his set. An air of anticipation sets in around the room. As the next DJ enters the booth with his CD booklet in hand, the throng begins to swarm the tiny floor, no larger than your grandmother's basement. Four Tet is about to hit the decks — and tens of thousands of people are watching.
Physically, however, there are only 50 people present. The rest are joining in via video-streaming website Ustream, watching and listening in their homes, on the train and even from behind their desks in offices around the world. "It's a virtual festival," declares Dommune founder Naohiro Ukawa, as he shares his thoughts with The Japan Times.
The Internet Age has brought us new cultural forces such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, and the year 2010 saw a phenomenal rise in live-streaming video websites. As the technology further fine tunes itself in 2011, music venues that make use of live broadcasting — such as Dommune — are also likely to increase.