Apple today announced that it will be supporting Paul McCartney's new album release with a special free video stream of a live concert on Thursday, February 9 [iTunes Store]. The concert is not only being streamed via iTunes on Mac and PC, but will also be available directly on users' Apple TVs, signaling new efforts by Apple to increase the utility of its set-top box.

To celebrate the release of Paul McCartney's latest album ? available now ? we're streaming his exclusive performance at Capitol Studios on February 9 at 7 p.m. (PST). Watch the concert on iTunes on your computer, or stream it on your TV using your Apple TV ? just choose iTunes Live from the Internet menu.

The Paul McCartney promotion is not Apple's first foray into live streaming via iTunes, as the company has for the past several years hosted an annual concert festival in London. Apple has gradually ramped up its coverage of those concerts to include live video streaming through iTunes and even through an App Store app for the 2011 series.

While users could redirect the video from that app to an Apple TV via AirPlay, Apple's addition of the iTunes Live experience directly on the Apple TV itself for this Paul McCartney concert demonstrates how the company can deliver exclusive content to users' televisions and perhaps ultimately an Apple-branded television set in an easily-accessible manner.


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