LiveTrad.com presented with County Sligo Enterprise Award
National Enterprise Awards – a County & City Enterprise Boards Competition aimed at the micro-business sector.
LiveTrad.com is based in Grange, Co. Sligo, and is operated by Micheál Ó Domhnaill and Neil Davitt. The website is used as a vehicle for streaming traditional music sessions, concerts and festival events live from all over the country. Well known groups and musicians like Altan, Donal Lunny and Sligo's best known groups Dervish and Téada have all appeared on the website, which broadcasts full HD video using the most advanced cloud-based streaming technologies available.
To date, the LiveTrad.com website largest ever audience came from the opening night of Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Cavan last Summer. The stream attracted an estimated 40,000 online viewers, watching on 13,273 computers in 37 different countries around the world. Recently, the website attracted in excess of 20,000 viewers for an online concert with Altan in Dublin’s Grand Social. LiveTrad.com was launched in 2010, and according to Micheál, ‘Live web streaming is to the forefront in how people the world over communicate with each other, and the live web streaming of something as uniquely Irish as traditional music allows us to provide a window to Ireland for internet users the world over.’
LiveTrad.com intend to build on the initial success of the website by strategically targeting the ever-increasing Irish diaspora and offering them a unique web experience, namely the possibility to view a live traditional music session from a pub or concert in Ireland in the comfort of their own home.
The cutting-edge LiveTrad.com platform broadcasts the stream in full high-definition, allowing the viewer to interact with the performer through a message submission facility which enables the performers to play live requests for viewers from all around the globe! Together with the website, www.LiveTrad.com, Micheál and Neil use social media to promote and raise awareness of the unique services offered by their business. The business has received significant hits on their video material through YouTube, and daily updates on Facebook and Twitter have helped to build the profile of www.LiveTrad.com and increase traffic to the website by approximately 400% in the last 12 months.
Having already streamed to viewers in over 50 countries worldwide, Neil says that interest in the streaming of music on LiveTrad is growing.
‘As we strive to find new ways to attract tourists to this country, traditional Irish music remains one of the key experiences for tourists here. LiveTrad.com will continue to promote this culture to international audiences through the provision of live streams, and we’ve got exciting plans to expand the service further in 2012.’
Speaking at the awards, John Reilly, C.E.O., Sligo County Enterprise Board said ‘Sligo County Enterprise Board is very pleased to be associated with the success of www.LiveTrad.com.
‘From our earliest dealings with the promoters, it became apparent that they both were extremely passionate about their idea and together possessed a complementary mix of skills to bring this unique business to fruition. They have quickly succeeded in promoting their website and driving traffic to their live streams through their commitment to high-quality broadcasting, and their knowledge and application of the very latest in social media marketing techniques. We would like to congratulate Micheál and Neil on their success on being the 2011 County Sligo winner in the National Enterprise Awards; and we wish them continued success in the future’.
Micheál acknowledged the role played by Sligo County Enterprise Board in the success of the business to date. ‘Sligo County Enterprise Board provided us with valuable funding when we launched in March 2010. We appreciate the on-going support and mentoring provided by their staff, and look forward to continuing to work with the Board as the business develops’ he added.