• by Karl Greenberg , October 31, 2006

Nissan kicks off a new live music sponsorship deal on Yahoo with a Nov. 15 performance by Christina Aguilera and the alt-rock band Incubus.

"Nissan Live Sets on Yahoo! Music" will feature bi-monthly performances in front of a live studio audience on a sound stage created by Yahoo Music at music.yahoo.com/nissanlivesets.

As sole sponsor, Nissan will advertise on the site using streaming video, games and animation.

The Yahoo music site will also have live Q&A sessions with artists, and according to Yahoo, will give the artists control over the venue by letting them do B-Side projects and covers of other artists' songs.

"The sponsorship of the 'Nissan Live Sets on Yahoo! Music' is an extension of our transformational marketing efforts designed to create a high level of engagement with our consumers by reaching them through non-traditional channels," said Jan Thompson, Nissan's vice president of marketing, in a release.

"Music is a big reason people are online. We were drawn to the interactive platform of this program, the A-list artists it expects to attract and the opportunity to engage our customers through music."

The music sets will be archived, and visitors will be able to download performances. Yahoo Music will also provide 30-second on-demand samples of each performance with links to purchase complete shows on Yahoo Music Unlimited.

People who attend the concerts, to be held on a sound stage on Fox's lot in Los Angeles, will also receive Flickr-enabled phones to take photos, which can be uploaded to photo galleries on the site.