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Instant Live Concert Recordings 373

Posted by michael from the instant-gratification dept.
WebGangsta writes "The AP is reporting that there's a new device out that allows you to record a concert... legally. It works because it's run by the venue, direct from the mixing board. After the show, concert-goers visit an on-site kiosk and purchase a 128MB keydrive (which may or may not be proprietary to the system). Then they swipe their credit card again to download the concert they just attended to the keydrive. The MP3 can then be shared with whoever they'd like (no restrictions on copying the show to friends)." We've had some previous stories about a different system with CD-R's available after the show.
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Instant Live Concert Recordings More

Instant Live Concert Recordings

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  • Cool but could be cooler. (Score:2, Insightful)

    by rkz ( 667993 ) *
    If you could go home and log onto the Maxwell's website and pay to download the concert, regardless of the length, it would be better than being half drunk trying to work some kiosk. If they only want to make the downloads available to ticketholders, they can put an unique password on each ticket that allows the purchase of only that concert.

    If I went to a show and it was good, I'd definitely pay $10.00 to download a digital copy of it.

    The keychain thing is an unnecessary gimmick and won't last.

    • Re:Cool but could be cooler. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by JohnTheFisherman ( 225485 ) on Thursday April 29, 2004 @11:14AM (#9007371)
      If I went to a show and it was good, I'd definitely pay $10.00 to download a digital copy of it.

      But if you are half drunk and trying to work some kiosk, you'll probably pay $40.00 for a copy of a terrible show, perhaps even accidentally paying for it twice as you fumble around with the keychain while trying not to spill your beer. :)

    • Re:Cool but could be cooler. (Score:5, Informative)

      by dcgaber ( 473400 ) on Thursday April 29, 2004 @11:28AM (#9007539)
      Phish has a system for this, and they have had it going for at least a year now. Plus, you can get it in either mp3 or lossless format (FLAC).

      They do not tether DRM either, and still allow for audience to tape the shows with special taper tickets. Those can be freely traded, but the ones Phish provides is an honor system (what? a band that does not assume that their fans are out to rip them off? Someone call the RIAA)
    • This is already possible for some bands. After going to a Primus show recently (Tour de Fromage). I was able to pay to download the entire show as either flac or mp3 from primuslive.com [primuslive.com]. Also, for truly free live shows of less popular and often more talented bands at the Live Music Archive [archive.org] over at archive.org.

    • Re:Cool but could be cooler. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by dmomo ( 256005 ) on Thursday April 29, 2004 @11:35AM (#9007639)
      The keychain thing is an unnecessary gimmick and won't last.


      This may be so, but, it might also make a great souvenir, especially if it had the bands logo on it. Then, you could put the concert on your computer, or wherever else, and still have a handy USB drive/momento. Even if they allow people to use their own drive, there could be those who prefer the "Jon Bon Jovi Still Rocks (he swears) Tour" memorobilia!


      It's good to see that people are trying to embrace technology instead of fighting it. It's not a crime to try and make a buck, but lets see some innovation! Let's some value added, and incentive. !

    • Re:Cool but could be cooler. (Score:4, Interesting)

      by athakur999 ( 44340 ) on Thursday April 29, 2004 @11:41AM (#9007731) Journal
      Oddly enough, Metallica, the former poster child of the anti-Napster crowd, has a system like that: www.livemetallica.com [livemetallica.com].

      DRM-free FLAC files can be downloaded with a few days of a concert happening.

  • Meet me in the parking lot after the show... (Score:5, Funny)

    by tbase ( 666607 ) on Thursday April 29, 2004 @10:56AM (#9007172)
    ...I'll be the one with the CD duplicator selling blank CDr's for $1 each.

    • Re:Meet me in the parking lot after the show... (Score:4, Informative)

      by XorNand ( 517466 ) on Thursday April 29, 2004 @01:13PM (#9008872)

      I know this is modded as Funny. I also know that someone is bound to do something like this. However, I've gotta ask: How does anyone win at this game when people have attitudes like this? Damned if you use DRM, damned if you don't. $10 for a digital recording of a concert I just attended is a very reasonable price to me. I think they have the right price point here; at $15, I would consider it somewhat expensive.

      I'm not trolling here; I really would be interested in some /. opinions here. Because digital media can be pirated at near zero cost, all it takes is a couple of people to completely destroy a new technology. Personally, I think this is a really cool idea and would hate to see it sunk this way. It sucks to admit, but DRM is inevitable. The innate greed within people will always exist (both the suits who want to squeeze every penny and the vast majority of the public who wants everything for free, ethics be damned).

  • Wait, that was illegal? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Seoulstriker ( 748895 ) on Thursday April 29, 2004 @10:57AM (#9007181)
    Why are concert recordings illegal? Is it like taping a movie at the theater?

    • Re:Wait, that was illegal? (Score:5, Informative)

      by ScottGant ( 642590 ) <scott_gant@sbcgloba l . n etNOT> on Thursday April 29, 2004 @11:00AM (#9007214) Homepage
      Depends on the band really. Some bands like The Greatfull Dead used to let you hook right into the mixing board to record the concert...which is why there are so many good Dead bootlegs out there.

      I think Phish lets you do this also...and others. But then again, this may be a thing of the past.
      • And I'm an idiot...

        But that's obvious
      • Lots of groups do. etree [etree.org] and etreenews [etreenews.org] are two good sites to look at for information about trading.
      • Matallica, ironically enough, encourages fans to do this today. They're effectively "licensing" their patrons to make a recording from their seats. They also sell an official version, in FLAC no less, from their web site for about the cost of a CD.

        TW

      • Re:Wait, that was illegal? (Score:4, Funny)

        by Mateito ( 746185 ) on Thursday April 29, 2004 @11:13AM (#9007370) Homepage
        > Depends on the band really. Some bands like The
        > Greatfull Dead used to let you hook right into
        > the mixing board to record the concert...which
        > is why there are so many good Dead bootlegs out there.

        Good news for all the Brittney Spears and Justin Timberlake fans! You can now own a CD copy of the concert you have just seen!

        Trick is its the CD that you already own that the artists have just spent the last 74 minutes miming to.

      • Re:Wait, that was illegal? (Score:5, Interesting)

        by jrp2 ( 458093 ) on Thursday April 29, 2004 @11:25AM (#9007497) Homepage
        I think Phish lets you do this also...and others. But then again, this may be a thing of the past.

        Nothing "in the past" about it. Phish, and many other bands in the jam band genre still sell "tapers tickets" and allow recording. These are usually the obstructed vies seats right behind the sound board that suck for viewing, but near perfect for recording.

        Note Phish, and others, are now competing with the tapers by selling sound board recordings on the web. They have clearly stated it is still OK to record on your own. They usually are selling a far superior product, but are OK with the competition as they realize the marketing potential. I know I have been introduced to almost all my favorite bands through the free live recordings and gone on to spend tons of money on these bands going to their shows, buying their CDs, shirts, etc..

        As far as I am concerned, the Dead, Phish, etc. are decades ahead of the rest of the music industry in dealing with likes of P2P, etc. The rest of the industry should study their business model seriously, as it is far superior to the doomed "litigate your way to success" strategy they are taking now. It doesn't seem like the Dead or Phish are having money troubles ;)

        • Re:Wait, that was illegal? (Score:5, Interesting)

          by ScottGant ( 642590 ) <scott_gant@sbcgloba l . n etNOT> on Thursday April 29, 2004 @11:52AM (#9007892) Homepage
          This is great news! It's been so long since I've been out there at a concert.

          But it's interesting that I've always thought that the Dead kinda killed Jerry. Sure, his years of substance abuse had much to do with it. But when you get most of your income from touring, you have this huge "machine" that is dependant on you to keep going. Jerry didn't have much time to take time off and just relax. Yes, he had money, but you also have to think of the roadies and secretaries and other people that kept the Dead going...they had bills to pay and house mortgages etc. Jerry carried a huge weight on his shoulders.

          But in the end, I feel like you, that this certainly should be the wave of the future in the music industry. The Dead and Phish certainly don't rely on hit records...as the Dead only had one hit in their long strange trip.

        • Nothing "in the past" about it.

          No, he was right. Letting audience members hook into the sound board is indeed a thing of the past. Phish banned this not because it competes with the soundboard recording that they sell (they weren't doing that so much at the time) but because of incidents where people who were taping directly from the board would touch things on the board they shouldn't or otherwise messed things up. When recording the show threatens to get in the way of the people at the show's enjoyment,

      • Livephish.com (Score:3, Informative)

        by addie ( 470476 )
        Phish lets you do things a number of ways. You can buy a taper's ticket, which allows you access to the taper's section. Here you'll see a sea of microphones and DAT recorders. This is for the real phans, the sound quality isn't great.

        The second option is Live Phish [livephish.com]. You can download shows roughly 24 hours after they've performed. Both MP3 and FLAC available (though FLAC is a bit more expensive, due to bandwidth). Each show is recorded directly from the soundboard mix, also comes with a setlist and c

    • Re:Wait, that was illegal? (Score:4, Informative)

      by Total_Wimp ( 564548 ) on Thursday April 29, 2004 @11:05AM (#9007268)
      Why are concert recordings illegal? Is it like taping a movie at the theater?

      Yes.

      But it wasn't always illegal if it was for private use. An ancient concept called "fair use" would allow many people in the past to record things for their personal enjoyment. Allas, such a thing no longer exists according to official sources such as the RIAA, the MPAA and the US Congress.

      TW

      • You're a winner! (Score:5, Informative)

        by Nurlman ( 448649 ) on Thursday April 29, 2004 @11:22AM (#9007470)
        Congratulations on being the 1 millionth Slashdotter to completely misunderstand the concept of "fair use."

        "Fair use" doesn't mean "I think it's only fair that I get to copy and use this." Fair use is a statutory defense to a charge of copyright infringement that is available primarily to those who use a portion of a copyrighted work (not the entire concert, program, etc.) for educational or journalistic purposes, and is especially effective when that use is non-commercial. Fair use protects your local t.v. newscast when they show you a 30 second clip of the band playing at your local arena, or when you quote some of the lyrics to a song in a review. It does not protect you wanting to make copies of CDs for your friends or taping entire concerts without the permission of the artist.

        • Re:You're a winner! (Score:3, Insightful)

          by squidfood ( 149212 )
          Fair use is a statutory defense to a charge of copyright infringement that is available primarily to those who use a portion of a copyrighted work (not the entire concert, program, etc.) for educational or journalistic purposes,...

          Does it also not cover reverse engineering on items you own, eg. examining something to see how it's made? Or how to say, play a tape you own on an operating system you own? Provided you don't make copies with that knowledge of course.

          • Re:You're a winner! (Score:3, Insightful)

            by rev063 ( 591509 )
            Does it [fair use] also not cover reverse engineering on items you own, eg. examining something to see how it's made?

            The doctrine of fair use relates only to copyright infringement, in other words, to the act of copying a protected work.

            Examining something to see how it's made doesn't usually entail copying anything (assuming you already have a legal copy), and so fair use simply doesn't apply here. Other legal niceties (e.g. DMCA) may well apply though.

        • It does not protect you... ...taping entire concerts without the permission of the artist.

          Really? The supreme court said "fair use" protects me while taping live concerts on TV, along with any other TV signal. It also protects me taping anything I want off the radio, including entire live concerts.

          Why on earth do you think it only protects me if I copy a portion? There are many court cases that define fair use as covering the copying of entire works if the intended purpose is "fair".

          TW

      • But it wasn't always illegal if it was for private use. An ancient concept called "fair use" would allow many people in the past to record things for their personal enjoyment.

        Out of curiousity, would that really be a case of fair use? I mean...Just what are you "using" fairly? The ticket?

    • Because concerts are performed for paying customers, you can't re-distribute a concert for free due to copyrighted content being performed live. Unless the artist, tour promoter and record company all agree that a concert can be distributed as a "bootleg" without proprietary consent, it's essentially akin to going on P2P servers or taping a movie - you're taking intellectual property without consent, which is a crime.
    • IIRC Metallica were cool with people trading amateur recordings of their live shows.
    • Why are concert recordings illegal?

      As with a lot of copyright issues, there is a lot of public misunderstanding about the law with regards to this type of thing. People have had it drummed into them that this type of thing is illegal, so they assume it is. But I think it is more complex than most people assume.

      The main issues are:

      a) It probably said in tiny writing on your ticket that you can't record it.
      b) The performance is a copyrighted work.

      However, I see no reason why copyright rules shouldn't app

    • Re:Wait, that was illegal? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by StateOfTheUnion ( 762194 ) on Thursday April 29, 2004 @11:23AM (#9007477) Homepage
      A piece of music can be copyrighted, but so can a performance. For example, Mozart's music is all public domain (because its so old that any claim to copyright (if that existed back then) would have long expired), but a performance of a work by Mozart by an orchestra today is protected by copyright (just the performance is protected. Not the music).

      You can ban people from recording a performance because the performers own a copyright on the performance . . . this can get more difficult if the written music is also still under copyright, because then there is a copyright holder for the music and the performance . . . if these guys get into a fight, there can be significant distribution issues.

    • Not technically. There is no "recording live performances is illegal" rule.

      It is illegal to make a recording of a performance without the performer's consent. At most concerts, attendees do not have that consent. As somebody else has pointed out, many jam bands do give permission, and you may tape away.

      Compare this to "sharing" music. There is no blanket law that says "you are not allowed to give away copies of an MP3" -- but there is one that states that you can't make a copy of somebody else's cop

    • It's been about 8 years since I read the relevant sections of copyright law, but this is the conclusion that I came to at the time. Pretty much everyone on the web that looked into the issue at that time had the same conclusion.

      If the concert was performed for you, then you have the right to record it. However, the law never clearly specified who it was concerned to be performed for. You could make a case that the concert was considered to be performed for the owners of the performance venue. You could als

  • Of hand, I'd prefer ... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by burgburgburg ( 574866 ) <splisken06@@@email...com> on Thursday April 29, 2004 @10:58AM (#9007197)
    paying for the CD and then ripping it myself. Amongst other things, I'd have the hard copy (or at least harder copy) in a theoretically uncompressed format.

  • Cost (Score:5, Funny)

    by AgtSmith ( 738147 ) on Thursday April 29, 2004 @10:58AM (#9007198) Homepage
    $45 for a T-shirt, $8 - Coke, $500 - for a Pen drive - showing your friends you can't manage money....priceless

    • Re:Cost (Score:4, Funny)

      by DR SoB ( 749180 ) on Thursday April 29, 2004 @11:05AM (#9007265) Journal
      Who the hell drinks coke at a rock concert? Oh right.. This is /.
      • I know you were joking and stuff - but just for reference, some dumb ass arenas and crappy venues don't sell or allow alcohol... OK for good bands but I bet it makes the crappy opening acts sound a lot worse without any beer... :)
        • Maybe that's why the headliners always sound so much better. I'm always so much more drunk after having to listen to the openers, driven to drinking via a band that has one or two people who can play really well, but are definitely not showmen.

          Usually the others "look" good, but can't play well.
      • People who are under 21, most likely.

      • Re:Cost (Score:3, Insightful)

        by 74nova ( 737399 )
        when i go to a show, i like to enjoy it and remember it. i dont spend money just to be at a show, i want to hear it and appreciate it.

    • Re:Cost (Score:3, Funny)

      by xxdinkxx ( 560434 )
      $8 - Coke

      dude, I don't know where you are getting your coke from... o wait.. we're talking about something different...

  • Do the artists get a cut? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Realistic_Dragon ( 655151 ) on Thursday April 29, 2004 @11:00AM (#9007209) Homepage
    If artists get a cut (more than the RIAA approved 1%) then I'm all for it.

    If, on the other hand, it's artists only chance to make real money getting fucked over by yet another greedy corp (in this case Clear Channel the venue owners in a lot of places), then it's a bit much.

  • Wonlt Work for All Concerts... Won't Fit (Score:5, Interesting)

    by syntap ( 242090 ) on Thursday April 29, 2004 @11:02AM (#9007238)
    128 meg stores just over ninety minutes of 192kbps/44kHz MP3. The article says this will be mostly used for independant artists who don't care about sharing their live music, so I guess Rush, Yes, and the Rolling Stones aren't an issue. But the Grateful Dead (who I believe allow recording) couldn't fit a show on there.

    Hmm... USB keys with little bears on them... or perhaps a "combination" keychain/pipe!

  • FLAC (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Aneurysm9 ( 723000 ) on Thursday April 29, 2004 @11:02AM (#9007240)
    As soon as they'll let me purchase a CD with FLAC audio instead of that MP3 crap, I'll think about it. Until then, me and my D7 have a lot of work to do.

    • Re:FLAC (Score:4, Informative)

      by RzUpAnmsCwrds ( 262647 ) on Thursday April 29, 2004 @11:13AM (#9007368)
      How about a CD with CDDA audio?

      Same quality. Sure, FLAC can fit 2x as much audio on a CD, but consider the number of CD players out there that play CDDA but not FLAC.

      Better yet, how about 192kbps Vorbis?

      And about this MP3 "crap":

      In double-bind studies, self-proclaimed "audiophiles" were unable to tell the differece between a 256kbps MP3 (CBR, encoded with FLAC) and the uncompressed CD.

      Now, of course, you don't want to transcode from one lossy format to another (or to another bitrate, for that matter). That's the true advantage of FLAC.

    • Re:FLAC (Score:3, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Great so let's see...

      Before: I won't buy music unless it's cheap and without DRM.

      Now: Oh you got that? But it's mp3. I won't buy music unless it's cheap, without DRM and in FLAC.

      Next: Oh you got that? But it's not on a purple Bluetooth drive. I won't buy music unless it's cheap, without DRM, in FLAC and on a purple Bluetooth drive.

      Later: Oh you got that too? Um, damit... anybody has a good excuse I can use?

  • Gotta say ... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by JSkills ( 69686 ) <jskills@goCOMMAofball.com minus punct> on Thursday April 29, 2004 @11:03AM (#9007245) Homepage Journal
    That isn't the worst idea I've heard at all. I've seen over 50 Dead concerts and all of them were taped for free by people in the tapers section. I always made it my business to get a hold of the tapes of the shows I went to.

    For bands I've seen in smaller bars and clubs, I can't tell you the number of times I bought their CD (usually self-published) on the way out if I had a good time (as well as how many drinks I knocked down =D )

    It's certainly smart to present the concert goer with the ability to make an impulse buy, right after they're coming off the high of enjoying a great concert ...

    • Re:Gotta say ... (Score:3, Interesting)

      by back_pages ( 600753 )
      I helped a friend digitally record a show his band did. While the second act was on, he was able to make a couple CDs of the recording. There were only a handful of people interested in the CDs so it all worked out. (Very small band.)

      I have to wonder about the prices of cheap networked computers with 40x+ CD burners. For $1000, you could easily have 10 such machines networked and be able to pump out 10 CDs in about 5 minutes. This obviously isn't a solution for moderate to large shows, but for smaller

      • Actually, you could load up one machine with 5 or 6 burners, and have them all dupe the same data at once. Nero allows this. You'd just have to:

        1. Have some add-in cards to support the CD-Burners (Make sure the cards support ATAPI, btw.)

        2. Make sure your hard drive can spool the data fast enough... although since you're burning the same data, heck, you could put 10 burners in one machine then.....

        So, for a machine that's probably 700-1ghz (intel or amd pick your poison) at around 300$ (512mb ram, etc

    • I've seen over 50 Dead concerts

      Wow, and you can still remember how to use a tape recorder? ;-)

  • ...someone is charging for this device.

    Wait, didn't the Greatful Dead allow this with a regular tape recorder for something like 25 years? They even set up a spot where you could put it so it would ge the best sound....

    Ah, those were the days. Maybe if more musicians had the attitude of the Dead, this stuff wouldn't be "News."

    We miss you Gerry.

  • this is also a good way to find out that, outside of the heat of the moment, the concert wasn't as good as you thought it was.

  • Questionable quality of feeds from the board (Score:4, Interesting)

    by PeeAitchPee ( 712652 ) on Thursday April 29, 2004 @11:03AM (#9007254)
    Don't expect something that sounds like like "At Fillmore East" or "Live at Leeds." Feeds taken from a mixing console were intended to be routed to a PA system playing at ear-splitting volumes, not a 2 track master EQ'd for home listening. Making great-sounding live recordings in and of itself is quite an art form.
  • And this is cool even though it will without question involve DRM, but of course RAII is *bad* for using DRM... And anyway, come on people, do you really think that bands and their promoters / managers / shills are going to facilitate the distro of live bootlegs out into cyberspace? Not going to happen.

    Second point: I just dont see anything new about recording a bootleg off the board, and selling it. Happens every day and has for YEARS.

    • Wow, it still amazes me how many people don't actually read the article. When's the last time you saw an MP3 with DRM?

      Also, a lot of bands are prefectly fine with recording bootlegs and sharing them all over the place. This just lets your average joe who might not know anything about taping a show get a soundboard copy of it.
      • When's the last time you saw an MP3 with DRM?

        Read my post: Bands (MOST bands) and their management ARE NOT going to allow this. USE YOUR HEAD.

        Also, a lot of bands are prefectly fine with recording bootlegs and sharing them all over the place."A lot" and in a lot of alturnative-non-commercial-still-puttin'-out-vinyl bands. Tha's fine. But any band you plunk down $35+ to see, ain't going to happen.

  • The modern floppy (Score:3, Insightful)

    by peterdaly ( 123554 ) <{petedaly} {at} {ix.netcom.com}> on Thursday April 29, 2004 @11:05AM (#9007271)
    I was awakened recently to the posibilities of these flash drives. When they first came out, the small sizes limited their practicality. Now with the larger size devices, they are actually very useful. While not cheap, you can get them in sizes of at least 2gb.

    At 2gb, it's getting close to carrying around a DVD which acts like a floppy, and is just as portable.

    This concert thing is a great use of the technology. I think these are going to eventually be wildly popular for many different uses.

  • This is nothing new! (Score:3, Informative)

    by Goobermunch ( 771199 ) on Thursday April 29, 2004 @11:06AM (#9007284)
    Pearl Jam has been doing something very similar for at least two years. My wife and I went to a concert here in Denver. Afterwards, we hit their web site and ordered the concert recording. We were immediately able to download an MP3. Later, we received a CD featuring the same concert with cleaned up audio.

    It's a shame no one's giving PJ credit for this awesome idea.

    --AC

    • Got ya' beat (Score:4, Interesting)

      by NineNine ( 235196 ) on Thursday April 29, 2004 @11:46AM (#9007807)
      I was at a PJ show a few years ago, and about halfway through, Eddie started talking between songs. He pointed at a guy toward the front and said something along the lines of, "I just want to point out this motherfucker here. He's had his arm in the air recording the show the whole damn time, and he hasn't had a free arm to put around his girl. Pass that thing up here". The audience passed up the guy's recorder (DAT, Minidisc, whatever), and Eddie takes it and jokes, "This motherfucker thinks he's getting it back [laugh]" He then says something directly into the recorder, off-mike, just for the guy's recorder. Then he puts the recorder down near his feet near some speakers to get a good recording.

      I'm sure that this very lucky concertgoer got an unbelievable recording when he got his recorder back, which I'm sure was right after the band spoke with the crippled kids who got to watch the show from ON STAGE.

      Not only is PJ probably the best rock band of the 1990's (and 2000's, so far), but they're really great guys.

  • MP3 concert on 128M keychain? (Score:5, Informative)

    by lambent ( 234167 ) on Thursday April 29, 2004 @11:06AM (#9007287)
    Sounds awful. Most bootleggers (of the legal variety, I do not consort with thieves ... erm, yeah) would rather pluck off their own ears than listen to, let alone pay for, a crappy mp3 concert that they had been to live.

    I've been active on etree, StG, and similar for years, and before that I traded hand to hand. General rule (not of thumb, it's just a rule): if it's compressed, it's crap. We don't want it, and we don't want it to propogate. Because, assuredly, some dope will take his mp3 keychain, and pop it into Nero or whatever they have these days, and print out his own CD. Which will then be traded, and there will be a very sub-standard concert floating around.

    "What we were seeing is that a large number of people were taking their CDs home and ripping them to MP3s, so we thought it would benefit music fans to eliminate that middle step," Reilly said.

    First of all, I've learned never to trust anyone else when it comes to encoding audio. Secondly, if you can download the concert immediately afterwards, there's obviously no quality check step to make sure everything came out okay.

    128M for 110s of recording time comes out to approx: 160kb/s. Totally unacceptable for live concerts.

    • Re:MP3 concert on 128M keychain? (Score:4, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 29, 2004 @11:25AM (#9007502)
      While we're being elitist technophiles, let me just say that digital recording is crap. Everybody knows that the Music Fairy lives inside the 97khz frequency, and "CD quality" digital recordings cut off anything above about 22khz, thereby killing the Music Fairy. Without the Music Fairy around to sprinkle it's magical Pixie Dust on the track, the music is practically unlistenable and totally unacceptable.

  • Live Metallica (Score:3, Informative)

    by valkraider ( 611225 ) on Thursday April 29, 2004 @11:07AM (#9007299) Journal
    I did this with Metallica. At Live Metallica [livemetallica.com] you can buy and download any Metallica show on their current tour. They have FLAC versions too, and I was able to get the show that I was at. They even have CD labels and case liners and stuff in PDF form. Pretty cool.

  • hoo boy (Score:5, Interesting)

    by xandroid ( 680978 ) on Thursday April 29, 2004 @11:08AM (#9007318) Homepage Journal

    (Sit back and moderate? Comment? What's a slashdotter to do...)

    "there's a new device out that allows you to record a concert... legally"

    With all the DCMA/DRM/copyright FUD being thrown from monkey to monkey these days, it seems that some of us forget that recording a concert is not inherently illegal. There are many, many artists who encourage the taping and distributing of their live shows -- here's a list of more than 900 of them. [furthurnet.com] Furthermore, there's even a P2P client dedicated to sharing 100%-legal music [furthurnet.com]. That's right folks, the RIAA doesn't have anything to do with this.

    Before I sit around and watch the comments pile up, there have been "devices" available for years that allow you to record a concert legally -- they're called tape recorders. These days, many serious hobbyist tapers are moving to a digital-only setup to cut down on loss of audio quality. (Wish I could give you model numbers or something, but that's what Google's for folks...)

    Now, the "instant" bit of this is what's actually interesting. 'Course, you're dependent upon the venue for all this, and we know how much us slashdotters like being dependent upon stuff that doesn't smell like open-source/community-owned...

    • nice. I was about to ask "what about video taping" but your linked list even has that info!

      many thanks!

    • Re:hoo boy (Score:3, Interesting)

      by StateOfTheUnion ( 762194 )
      Before I sit around and watch the comments pile up, there have been "devices" available for years that allow you to record a concert legally -- they're called tape recorders

      Uh . . . hate to rain on the parade, but a tape recorder does not allow you to record a concert legally . The copyright owner allows or disallows you to record his/her/their performance legally. As the performer owns the copyright (and has an agreement with the music writers if the writers are not the same as the performers), they can

      • Re:hoo boy (Score:3, Insightful)

        by That's Unpossible! ( 722232 ) *
        This is the same misinformation you were just sharing at the top of this discussion. Let me sum up my reply:

        Performances are not copyrightable. The reason you can't record all performances is because the artists performing are free to set restrictions on what you are allowed to do in their venue. It has nothing to do with copyrights.

  • Good (Score:2, Insightful)

    by CompressedAir ( 682597 )
    This is an intelligent use of technology to make money. It has a clear means of income (buying the memory stick) and sells a product of superior quality (over holding up a tape recorder).

    Whether it succeds or not will depend on the consumer... but I think this is a good effort.
  • you'll have to buy those infernal memory sticks instead if you wanna buy the recording?

    I think CD or DVD are my preferred concert recording medias. I can compress them any which way I like afterwards. The last concert I saw was such that I would have liked to apply the physical kind of compression directly on the artist, though. R. Williams if you must know and yes, because the missus wanted to and yes, I was the dolt paying for it, thank you very much. Took 6 hours of AC/DC at high volumes and innumerab

  • Barenaked Ladies Concert MP3s (Score:4, Informative)

    by aredubya74 ( 266988 ) on Thursday April 29, 2004 @11:11AM (#9007344)
    Despite all the sturm und drang over DRM'ed concert releases being the next big thing on the horizon, at least one band ignored the DRM bandwagon. Barenaked Ladies [barenaked.net] used the resources of their promoter Nettwerk [nettwerk.com] (and not through their record company) to release MP3s of each concert during the first leg of their tour this year. You can download [werkshop.com] any of the bunch direct from their web site, for $13.99. What complicated, strings-attached scheme do they use to transfer the music? That's right, a friggin' ZIP file. Pay your money, pull down your concert, enjoy the MP3s. I'm proud to say I bought two of their shows, one I personally attended, and a second just because I heard other fans rave about the particular show. Trust us, RIAA, and we'll keep you wealthy with products like this. Don't treat us like friggin' thieves.
  • Prince had copies of the Musciology CD handed out at the door... good CD, I'm glad he;s getting back to his funky roots.

  • Stupid medium (Score:5, Interesting)

    by theLOUDroom ( 556455 ) on Thursday April 29, 2004 @11:17AM (#9007412)
    What the hell is wrong with buring a frickin audio CD?
    • It's lossless
    • It's cheaper (costs about 100X less for the media)
    • It will actually play with or without a computer......this means I can actually listen to it on the way home

    The only advantage I see for this is that the keychains could be reusable, but even then, the cost of a burned CD is practically negiliable assuming this service costs more than $1.

    I suppose the only REAL advantage you get is that the flash devices could be gang programmed more quickly, but if you were running more than a half dozen or so high-speed CD burners, you could crank out CDs as fast as you could take someone's money anyways.

  • Fripp on soundboard mixes (Score:3, Insightful)

    by acroyear ( 5882 ) <jws-slashdot@javaclientcookbook.net> on Thursday April 29, 2004 @11:20AM (#9007443) Homepage Journal
    Soundboard mixes are not representative of what an audience might hear. Those instruments which are naturally louder in the theatre are not likely to be as loud in the P.A. Panning is also likely to be more extreme in a theatre, where audiences on the right might not hear a carefully placed shaker on the left. But there are refreshingly different perspectives, also intriguing close-ups on drum kits and internal guitar panning, which would never get past the censorship of a studio and good taste. Which is maybe one reason why bootlegs are popular......


    -- source [discipline...mobile.com], the liner notes for 1994's B'Boom live album.

    In other words, it really depends on the venue, when getting a "Front of House" (FoH) mix. The guy mixing the sound for the PA is aware that he's hearing the on-stage monitors and amplifiers as well as the PA, so guitar and bass sounds tend to be quieter, and drums can be quite hollow.

    When this mix is your only source, it can be devestating to the recording when looking for something that should be more professional, like the Dixie Dregs concert on the Steve Morse DVD, where the mix cut the guitar to almost nothing because Morse keeps a rather loud on-stage amp stack.

    Arena and Stadium gigs aren't as affected by this as club and theater shows would be. Then again, bands that can afford to do stadium shows can afford to have a second mixer on site producing a high-quality recording of the show independent of the FoH mix.
  • As long as i remember myself liking Iron Maiden, i always loved watching them live, and if possible have a recording of the gig either mine by Minidisc recording, or other bootlegs that are essential for a Maiden fan. A while ago the boys decided that there is no reason of not recording a live performance (audio/still picture/no video)and share it wisely/widely, as long it won't be sold as "official" merchandise, so naturally lots of us fans loved this. Now i'd love to see this happening in future gigs, not
  • $20 for a 128MB USB keychain drive seems a rather good deal, seeing as they usually go for about $30 [google.com]. I'm not too interested in buying ~160kbps MP3s though, even for $10 per concert.

  • Instant Live Concert Recordings (Score:3, Funny)

    by pete-classic ( 75983 ) <hutnick@gmail.com> on Thursday April 29, 2004 @11:26AM (#9007512) Homepage Journal
    Instant Live Concert Recordings


    That's right. Until now you could only get instant recordings of pre-recorded concerts. Now, with our cutting-edge "live concert" technology you can get instant recordings of live concerts.

    I think it's time to get a new retarded monkey to write the headlines. This one's busticated.

    -Peter
  • It's cool that the venue is doing this, allowing for more artists to participate instead of forcing the artist to set up their own distribution network. But as several people have mentioned, Phish, Metallica, Barenaked Ladies, and several other big name bands allow anyone to download the concert from their website for paying a fee. The good thing about those is they all have loseless formats. Usually either SHN or FLAC. But why bother with the mp3 digital memory stick? I know that the Pixies are releas

  • WAH (Score:2, Funny)

    by cubicledrone ( 681598 )
    Not good enough. The 128MB drives should be included with an 80% discounted ticket, and everyone who records the concert should get a free roast beef sandwich.

    Remember, anything that can be copyrighted should be free, and anyone who tries to make a living writing, singing, performing, doing research, directing, producing, engineering, editing, designing, painting, sculpting or building should be driven out of business and live in a cardboard box until they throw away all their education and experience to

  • Neubauten (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Earlybird ( 56426 ) <slashdot&purefiction,net> on Thursday April 29, 2004 @12:40PM (#9008428) Homepage
    German industrial pioneers Einstürzende Neubauten [neubauten.org] already do this. After the show, you can pick up a freshly-printed CD thas has been recorded straight from the mixing board.

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