Concert CDs Sold On The Spot By A Radio Giant

from the changing-business-models dept

With the music industry struggling (actually, resisting) to work out a new business model, plenty of people have suggested that musical acts should be looking to make more money off of their live shows. It appears that one method - selling live recordings of the show as soon as it's over - is starting to catch on. Earlier this year, the band Phish got some attentioin for offering downloadable copies of their concerts soon after each show. Now, radio giant Clear Channel is getting into the business, selling CDs of concerts five minutes after the show ends. They're looking on it as a "souvenir" for those who made it to the show. This sounds like a smart plan to me (though, I think $15 is probably a bit too high, since you're getting a CD without any additional production work done on it). Bands, who are normally not very happy with Clear Channel, say that they've actually been good to work with on this project. The bands end up with one-third of the proceeds, and they say that there was no pressure to do this at all - but that it made sense. Record labels, however, may start to freak out once they realize that Clear Channel, itself, may be undercutting their business. As much as I tend to dislike Clear Channel, I think it's going to take a company like that to shock some sense into the music labels.