December 5, 2006
Stealing the show? Cell phones capture concerts
While artists and concert venues typically ban cameras and recording devices, cell phones generally are allowed, reports mlive.com, even though today's communication devices often double/triple as digital cameras and video recorders - and end up posted on YouTube, like the Who concert (image left).
So what are concert venues and artists doing about this, if anything?
"For the most part, we have had no issues with phones," said Rich MacKeigan, Van Andel Arena manager. "Camera policy is absolutely dictated by the artist. It's enforced by the venue, but dictated by the artist. And (artists have) acknowledged that the quality of anything taken by cell phone is not significant enough to warrant the extreme measures that need to be taken to mitigate it."
Rather than viewing phones as "bootlegging" devices used to snag illicit recordings or photos of concerts, some rock stars even encourage their use as a way of interacting with the crowd, even talking on stage with callers on the other end of a front-row fan's cell phone.
... Because clips on sites such as YouTube get offered up and viewed for free -- whether taken by cell phone or digital video camera -- many ardent fans see it simply as a way of sharing their experiences with other devotees rather than trying to profit from the practice.
Some services -- DiscLive and Instant Live -- have started offering "authorized" concert recordings to fans of certain bands. The CDs sometimes are ready minutes after a performance has ended.
The telecommunication industry's Web site, Lightreading.com, recently ranked the top video-sharing Web sites, some of which feature digital concert clips uploaded by fans. "
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