Comments on: Selling live recordings at shows

Pollstar asks why more artists aren't selling live recordings at their shows. One reason may be the relative expense of audio CD burners. Memory sticks could be the answer.

[hely0123]

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[Antemeridian]

I've seen this before as well

I was actually at a Barenaked Ladies concert this year where they did this as well. You prepurchase the drive before the concert and pick it up on your way out. For bands who have a great live show (either for the music or for the banter), this is a great way to keep a copy of everything.

[Stephen Russell]

Why not just put it up with a BT for download ?

It takes time for them to mix the stream to the various songs.

I go to bt.eTree.org to get my concerts dowloaded after the show instead of waiting at the venue for 2 or 3 disks.

Disks are so old school anyway. If you could get it on a SD card say 4 gig. That would be better.

[M C]

Gimmick value, not much else

Look, even fully-produced, blown-notes-fixed nationally released live albums don't sell.

The only reason most people (i.e., not the top 1% of fanatics) want an "on-the-spot" live recording is the exact same reason they want a t-shirt: to show others they were there.

Hardly a good reason for a band to release a mediocre-fi recording of an average show.

[MattRosoff]

Gimmick or fan bait?

The top 1% of fanatics are the ones who go to shows. And soundboard recordings don't necessarily suck, presumably if the live mix was decent the recorded mix will need little adjustment.

I agree with some other posters that downloads are attractive because they don't require you to wait in line, but there's a spontanaeity right after a great show that fades away after a few hours. I'd personally be more likely to pay right away.

[daveturnley]

Downloads = no overhead

Pearl Jam released recordings of every show on one of their tours five years or so ago (on old-fashioned CDs). The idea of capturing the show you've just seen is cool, though I wouldn't want to pay in advance (in case the show blows). And I wouldn't want to wait in line afterward.

The obvious answer is that bands should just upload the shows right after they end. Fans can then go home and download, and fans elsewhere can collect the whole tour. Charge a low price (like $3 each) and watch the people eat it up.

A band like Radiohead (sorry, but aren't they required to be mentioned on music blogs for at least another month?)--with their rabid fan-base--could make some nice cash.