*By Conor White*
During the bitter months of winter, music-lovers may dream of summer festivals like Coachella, Bonnaroo, and Governors Ball.
But actually planning trips to those festivals is another matter entirely ー and an expensive one, at that.
Enter LiveXLive, a platform that brings festivals and other live events to music enthusiasts who can't afford to attend in-person.
"We set out to take the playbook from ESPN, to create the next generation MTV," founder Robert Ellin told Cheddar Thursday. "And then add the community and social components of it to give the consumer the most immersive experience while they watch a live event."
LiveXLive has already streamed 20 events in 125 countries to the tune of more than 45 million views. The company's next event is iHeartRadio's ALTer Ego Festival through a new partnership with the entertainment giant.
Ellin said the possibilities for his company are immeasurable.
"We gave them an opportunity to partner and curate a brand new revenue stream for the entire music industry," he said.
The new partnership with iHeartMedia should only boost LiveXLive's ($LIVX) already-rapid growth. The company now has over 650,000 paying subscribers and more than 1.2 million active users, with almost 30,000 new subscribers a month.
While it might seem counterintuitive for festivals to partner with a platform that allows users to watch events from their couches, Ellin argues it's actually a mutually beneficial arrangement.
"You can watch it on TV but you'd still rather be at the live event," he said. "We're driving more people to these events."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/livexlive-partnering-with-iheartmedia-to-stream-festivals).
Oracle soars as it cashes in on the AI boom, Plus: Starbucks shares continue to fall under its new CEO, and does anybody actually want a new iPhone Air?
Swedish buy now, pay later company Klarna is making its highly anticipated public debut on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday, the latest in a run of high-profile initial public offerings this year. The offering priced at $40 Tuesday, above the forecasted range of $35 to $37 a share, valuing the company at more than $15 billion. The valuation easily makes Klarna one of the biggest IPOs so far in 2025, which has been one of the busier years for companies going public. Other popular IPOs so far this year include the design software company Figma and Circle Internet Group, which issues the USDC stablecoin..
Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison wrested the title of the world’s richest man from longtime holder Elon Musk early Wednesday as stock in his software giant rocketed more than a third in a stunning few minutes of trading. That is according to wealth tracker Bloomberg. A college dropout, the 81-year-old Ellison is now worth $393 billion, Bloomberg says, several billion more than Musk, who had been the world’s richest for four years. The switch in the ranking came after a blockbuster earnings report from Oracle. Forbes still has Musk as the richest, however, valuing his private businesses much higher.
Aurimas Sabulis, CEO of Dextall, unveils how AI‑driven prefabricated façades slash design time by 80%, labor by 87%, and accelerate affordable housing delivery.
Online broker Robinhood Markets will join the S&P 500 index Online broker Robinhood Markets will join the S&P 500 index as its stock rides higher on a cryptocurrency wave.