More Bands Putting Concerts Online
from the skipping-out-on-record-labels dept
We've talked about bands like Phish and Pearl Jam experimenting with offering recordings of their live shows to fans online, and it appears that plenty of other musicians are signing up to do the same thing. There are a couple of interesting angles on this one. First, it's a way for the bands to (mostly) cut out the recording industry middlemen they have to deal with most of the time. Live shows are how bands usually connect with fans, and this opens up those shows to a much wider audience. At the same time, many of the bands are choosing to offer these concert recordings without any copy protection - and they're selling like crazy. There's a great quote in the article from Brad Serling, who runs the site that many of these bands are using: "The No. 1 issue that most of the music industry has wrong is D.R.M. Why make it harder for people to buy your product? The answer is fear, and you have to get over the fear. What would you do if you walked into Tower Records to buy the new Dave Matthews Band CD and the guy behind the counter said: 'Here's your CD. It's $18, but you can only listen to it in your den on one stereo. You can't take it to the car. You can't put it on your iPod.' You would laugh at him and walk out, right? It's the same thing here." Offer something to people that they want, and you'll be amazed at what they're willing to pay for.
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