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AND it's getting bigger by the minute!

About 100 million people around the world watched live streaming video online last year, according to a report from iRocke.com. An average of 1200 concerts were streamed each month in the latter half of the year, doubling the average number of concerts streamed in the first six months.

But this is the crux of this new industry:

Live streaming is a far cry from bootleg tape-trading networks. People can still record live performances and upload them to video-sharing sites. But when high-quality concert streams are available for free or with a cheap subscription, then watching someone's shaky iPhone video recorded from the nosebleed seats is a lot less appealing.

But live concert streaming is still a relatively new phenomenon, with new options popping up every month. YouTube, Ustream, and Justin.tv have carved out niches in the video streaming space, but each company uses different tactics to tackle the issue.

It's exciting times in this niche of the music world - a niche that can only grow exponentially:

Marc Scarpa, executive producer of Simplynew, was one of streaming video's pioneers. He coordinated the live streams of the Tibetan Freedom Concert series, the Woodstock 1999 festival, the first presidential town hall with President Clinton in 1999, and the first social network concert broadcast in 2006 (a Paul Oakenfold show on MySpace).

Scarpa realized that the Grateful Dead revenue model of capitalizing on live performances rather than relying solely on album sales was a smart way for musicians to make money in an era of digital piracy. The appeal for fans is obvious, he says.

"What's the appeal of watching the Super Bowl or the Oscars? What's the appeal in watching Wimbledon or the Olympics? What's the appeal of watching the news? The difference between watching those live events on TV and experiencing them online is that online you can have a participatory experience," Scarpa says. "The idea of the real-time water cooler has finally been realized. These are all things we were doing in '96 but just on a very low bit rate."

Already we're seeing corners of this market being populated, from Concert Window, a subscription-based site largely geared toward folk music fans, to LiveBeats.com, which is focused on the Electronic Dance Music market. Throw in killer smartphones with gorgeous, crystal-clear screen and the proliferation of high-speed wifi and surely the sky's the limit!

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