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

[Paul Mather]

On Tue, 7 Jul 1998, Horse Whisperer wrote:

> >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.

You were, and I was agreeing with you, but I kind of went off on the
soapbox at the end there, doing the "MPEG vs. RealAudio" bit, and it
seems like I was directing my comments at you specifically.  Sorry if it
appeared that way; I wasn't.

> 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.

I agree: blanks & postage, or one-for-one trades should be the order of
the day!

I can understand, and sympathise, somewhat with "traditional" bootlegs,
which must recoup manufacturing costs, but CD-Rs don't suffer this
up-front problem, unless the artwork is produced professionally (hah!).
I find it hard to compare a bootleg of the quality of the 4CD Frank
Zappa _Apocrypha_ bootleg---whose production quality rivals official
releases---with a CD-R that someone has run off in his or her basement,
with an insert printed on a colour inkjet or laser printer, and a dodgy
stick-on label.

I don't see much difference between a cassette copy and a CD-R of a gig,
especially one whose source is a cassette, sampled through a low-rent
sound card.  Except, of course, that it's easier for me to play CDs when
working in the lab! ;-)

Cheers,

Paul.

obCD: Roy Bookbinder, _Travelin' Man_

e-mail: paul at gromit.dlib.vt.edu

"I didn't mean to take up all your sweet time"
        --- James Marshall Hendrix