As we said in posts earlier this week, MSN has secured the online distribution rights to a new global concert event: Live Earth. From the press release:

SOS is designed to trigger a global movement to combat our climate crisis. It will reach people in every corner of the planet through television, film, radio, the Internet and Live Earth, a 24-hour concert on 7/7/07 across all 7 continents that will bring together more than 100 of the world’s top musical acts. Live Earth alone will engage an audience of more than 2 billion people through concert attendance and broadcasts. MSN has partnered with SOS to use its reach to make the Live Earth concerts available across the globe. The Live Earth audience, and the proceeds from the concerts, will create the foundation for a new, multi-year global effort to combat the climate crisis led by The Alliance for Climate Protection and its Chair, Vice President Al Gore. SOS was founded by Kevin Wall, who won an Emmy as Worldwide Executive Producer of Live 8.

Confirmed venues:

• Shanghai
• Sydney
• Johannesburg
• London
• Brazil TBD
• Japan TBD
• United States TBD

Read more for the 25 major artists who have already confirmed. With MSN as the exclusive online portal, this is both a massive gamble and a huge opportunity. Get it right and MSN could see some tremedous growth over the next 5 months. Lets not think what happens if they get it wrong.

Check out the new Live Earth homepage at http://liveearth.msn.com/.