14 DAY TRIAL // Last week, Shakira announced that she had decided to launch her latest video using Ustream and Facebook called 'Give It Up To Me,' probably in an attempt to gain more fans on the social network and to part with the tradition of having used MTV for several whole years. It seems that the move was as innovative as it was inspired, since more than 95,000 visitors watched the new video when it was initially broadcast, while the following 24 hours brought around 500,000 viewers. In other words, Shakira's fans all over the world have definitely appreciated her initiative, so they are likely to see more videos or singles released this way.
Ustream is gradually gaining more and more popularity as a live streaming website, and the audience is also increasing. This could also be due to the fact that the service broadcasts more than just recent music videos, including the memorial service for Michael Jackson, which gained about 4.6 million views, but also the inauguration of Barack Obama as President of United States, which was seen by 3.8 million users. On the other hand, these videos have lasted for hours, as opposed to Shakira's 'Give It Up To Me' that has a length of only ten minutes.
Regarding Shakira's choice to integrate Ustream into her Facebook page, it is probably motivated by the fact that she was hoping (and succeeded, for that matter) to attract more of her fans online, finding yet another channel to interact with them.
Nonetheless, the idea to stream her latest video does not belong to Shakira, it seems that it was Chamillionaire who broke the ice in this area, with his video debut 'Good Morning,' launched several days before. Needless to say, the success of these two singers will most probably inspire more and more artists to walk this path, already trodden by others.