Pepsi and Billboard join forces to produce ‘Summer Beats Concert Series’.

Pepsi and Billboard announced the first-ever “Summer Beats Concert Series.” This new and exciting program will include three Twitter enabled shows during music’s hottest season featuring performances by Billboard chart-topping artists across multiple genres, marking yet another extension of Pepsi’s “Live for Now” global campaign. The series will kick off on Tuesday, June 26th with a surprise performance in Los Angeles, followed by a Nashville concert at the end of July and a spectacular event in New York City in late August.

Fans watching the concerts via the Pepsi Twitter page livestream will be able to influence elements of the performance in real-time. The live events will cater to crowds of up to 1,000 people, while millions of music fans around the world will be able to watch online through Pepsi’s enhanced Twitter profile page and on Pepsi.com. The concerts will be promoted on Billboard.com and will be available on-demand after the show as well.

The “Summer Beats Concert Series” will serve as an integral part of the broader partnership with Twitter. The program launched last month with free weekly music downloads and original recap videos.

“The Summer Beats Concert Series truly brings Pepsi’s Live for Now mindset to life by offering fans the ability to interact with and impact a live concert event,” said Javier Farfan, Senior Director of Cultural Branding at PepsiCo. “This component supports our overall Twitter program by inserting spontaneity and social media engagement into the concert experience and changing the way fans enjoy music.”

As part of this partnership, Pepsi will also present the “Billboard Songs of the Summer” chart on Billboard.com.

“We’re thrilled to be working with Pepsi to build on the compelling content and exciting experiences that Billboard brings fans throughout the summer,” said Tommy Page, Publisher, Billboard. “Billboard has significantly increased its presence during this major music season from the launch of the Songs of the Summer chart in 2010 to the Summer Blowout event in 2011, and the Summer Beats Concert Series is the perfect platform for the brand to expand its footprint and engage with even more fans in 2012.”

In addition, through its recently announced partnership with Viacom, Pepsi will be awarding fans with the opportunity to win tickets to a Summer Beats concert. Simply by tweeting images of their “Live for Now” moments using a designated hashtag, consumers will have a chance to win tickets to a show and document their experience as the exclusive Pepsi NOW Photo Correspondent.