bootleg/counterfeit

[Carl E. Anderson]

> obviously, when the "bootleg" is just
> another extension of a dedicated fan's considerable investment-- emotional as
> well as monetary--they've already got the CD or whatever, they just want as
> much as they can get  and it's for their personal use and for sharing their
> enthusiasm, turning other people on-- that's very different from the guy
> who's simply copying the material and selling it for profit. Because that's
> not about sharing anything, that's just about ripping people off.

        This is very true, and what's nice about some bands that either
sanction taping or sometimes release their own "official" bootlegs.
They know the sound or performance quality isn't allways going to be
the greatest, but they know that mostly its serious fans who will want
to collect recordings of these performances for historic reasons.  Plus,
serious fans who want to turn on other people to a band, but don't want
to just tape a copy of that band's album (which would take away from
this band's sales, potentially, which is something serious fans don't
want to do to their favorite bands) can use a fairly good quality bootleg
to make a copy for a potential fan.  That gives the newbie a good idea
of what the band is about, without compromising sales--and the serious
fan can pick a recording which won't sound like shit, but might induce
to the newbie to go buy the album so they can hear all those cool
tunes at a higher fidelity.

        As a person with a degree in folklore, I have this gut feeling
that concerts should be documented as often and as much as possible
for historical reasons and the "benefit of future generations".  Sure,
it's great to have the albums, but where would be be without some of the
things that only happen live?  Sometimes these things appear on live
albums from bands, or as extra-tracks on singles, but not always.
Is Motorhead going to release recordings of the live performances of
"Silver Machine" they did last year?  Not bloody likely!  Would I
pay money to hear a recording of it?  Probably ...  Do future
generations need to hear this?  Probably not ;)  but I'd hate to
deprive them of the option.

        I don't do much taping, myself, but (especially in Britain)
I generally ask permission of the artist first (I haven't been turned
down by the two bands I've taped here so far) and assure them that
I won't be making bootleg CDs of the material ;) and try to send them
a copy of the tape.
        (I can now see why artists seem more worried by bootleg CDs in
the UK, where normal CD prices are higher than in the US, and bootleg
prices are _lower_ than bootleg prices in the UK--still, I can't think
that that many people are buying bootlegs that don't already have the
legit stuff.  If bands are worried about it, they should damn well
release more material!  I think this will be more possible as recording
media prices drop, and the possibility of direct marketing over the
net becomes more common.)
        (After all, if tBS said "we've a 70 minute CD of live material
here--the sound is kind of dodgy in places, and Al sneezes in the middle
of the drum solo and it's, like, pretty audible, but we'll sell it to
you for 12 bucks", well John Public might prefer to get Trepanation first,
but would John Swartz buy it?  You bet! ;)
        So would I, of course ... ;)

Cheers,
Carl