OFF: Bootleg Rumpus (was HW: Live at The Kinetic Playground)

[Horse Whisperer]

>RealAudio, on the other hand, is a proprietary format that works on a
>few platforms, mainly Windoze.  It does not have nearly the developer
>base that MPEG enjoys.  I can handle MPEG fine, but RealAudio isn't
>supported (last I checked) on my desktop workstation (a DEC 3000/500S
>Alpha AXP).
  Greater compression (and greater loss of fidelity) can
>be achieved by lowering the bitrate, e.g. to 56 KHz, or, by resampling
>at a lower rate (22 KHz, etc.), or by squeezing into mono.
>
>The problem about digital audio is that folks often forget the basic
>fact that it consumes a lot of bandwidth, so, for great quality, you
>need to use more megabytes.  Sad, but true.
>

I work a lot with digital audio, so I'm only too aware of the problems
of disc space/bandwidth, but I was mainly commenting on the quality and
capability of the compression techniques used for MP3, which seem
superior to RealAudio whilst creating similarly sized files.  I think.


>> If I were in a popular band who's fans recorded gigs, all I would ask
>> would be that they let us know and send us a decent copy (burnt CD?).
>> I'd then make either the CD available through Mail Order (costs
only),
>> or, if we made enough money, get a site with lots of space and upload
>> every track in MP3.
>
>I think band attitude is the key.  I am on the Govt. Mule mailing list,
>and people are openly trading live shows on there all the time.  In
>fact, there's a permanent tape tree allied with the list, called the
>Mule Trane.  The seed for that tree often comes from soundboards
>provided by the band.  This is all made possible by the bands official
>taping policy: they sanction taping at their shows, and sanction
trading
>so long as no profit is made when trading shows.
>
>Many of the shows I've received recently are really superb quality in
>terms of sound and performance.  Again, this is thanks, really, to the
>band: they've actually said they'd rather be open about taping, and
>allow people to set up proper equipment (good mics, etc.) and get a
>great sounding recording than to have to sneak in crappy equipment and
>make a lousy recording.  Bad recordings make the band sound crap, so it
>makes sense to let fans get the best recording possible.
>

Yes, band attitude is a big factor, but let me put it like this.....
You're in a local band with a "cult level" following, y'know playing
bigger venues with a seventy five or a hundred people turning up
specifically to see you.  You've no recording contract.  You're paying
your own recording, producing and releasing costs.  Your gigs are your
only income.
So a punter wants to record your show from your board, you say OK, as
long as you get a 1st-gen copy and get to see the artwork beforehand (to
check details and maybe to make sure it looks cool enuff etc).
Okay so now there's a recording extant which should be good quality, for
which you paid no money.  Now you can do with it what you want and your
name and music gets heard by a much wider audience which increases the
chances of (a - most likely) more people coming to your gigs and
increasing your chances of breaking even - allowing you to put on more
gigs and (b - less likely, but possible) your music getting into the
hands, CD player and ears of someone in a position to do something for
you....ie A&R.

Now let me put it another way.......
You're in Metallica/BOC/HW in other words any band with a deal and a
serious fanbase.  Serious fans will constitute 80-90% of the customer
base for bootlegs.  They'll buy every studio album.  Plus they'll
_really_ want the official live LP.  Even if they have a boot of the
show 'cos they were at it or whatever, because the packaging and the
other stuff that comes with it.  Plus you have the benefits of the boot
CD's reaching people who maybe wouldn't have considered going to a show,
and will think "F**k, they really smoke live, I must catch their next
show" - another smiling face in the front row, paying £25 for a
teeshirt.

So everyone's a winner.  Communication is the key, I think.


>> Or just call me irresponsible.  My (hypothetic) record company would
>> then sue us then kill us dead then market all our back catalogue and
not
>> pay us a bean.
>
>I guess it depends on the clout of the band.  For example, The Allman
>Brothers Band are on Sony, and they officially allow taping.  Metallica
>are on Electra, and they allow taping.  Both are major labels.  Both
>bands have no problems selling records, despite the taping policy.
>
>Cheers,
>
>Paul.
>

Now that's cool record company policy - or is it just a major reacting
to a threat from a big league artist???

I do however draw a line in the sand about selling bootlegs for profit -
to me that defeats the purpose completely, but boys _will_ be boys.

Chris.

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