This seems like a good idea...

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[b]See a Concert, Buy the CD[.b]

The next time you stumble out of your favorite music club beer-buzzed and tinnitus-impaired, you might be able to purchase a CD that allows you to hear yourself drunkenly yelling for "Free Bird."

Clear Channel will announce "in the very near future" a plan that would enable the company to record live CDs of concerts and have them ready to sell to concertgoers five minutes after the show's conclusion, according to project manager Steve Simon. The Boston Globe has reported that Bean Town is the city chosen for beta-testing this latest paean to instant gratification.

Faced with a public increasingly disinterested in traditional CD releases, bands such as the Who, Pearl Jam, Phish and String Cheese Incident have made all shows from recent tours available, and dozens of other artists have released live CDs over the Internet. The Clear Channel plan would presumably flood the market with thousands of live shows a year from myriad acts.

Initially, record companies seemed excited by the idea of using broadband technology to make live shows available on the Web rather than the traditional CD format. DCN, or Digital Club Network, features hundreds of concerts available to view as video streams. Quality remains an issue--for most viewers, watching DCN is like watching footage from Neil Armstrong's moon landing. Tellingly, DCN has begun to release some of its cache of shows on CD.

Simon is confident the Clear Channel model will solve logistical problems and thrill both casual and obsessive fans. With "high (news - external web site)-speed burners with some customization," Clear Channel can have thousands of CDs available immediately upon the concert's conclusion. "The CDs will be the complete show, including encores, and the sound will be a mix of soundboard and ambient mikes," he says.

Simon believes that the program will "provide artists with a new revenue stream, provide fans with a special souvenir, will enhance the concert experience, and offer an alternative to piracy."

In addition to being available at the shows, every CD will be made available through "a major retail partner" to be announced soon.

But who will have final say over these recordings? Clear Channel is primarily a promoter and venue owner, and Simon says the company doesn't need special permission to record the show.

Speculation persists that the company will force bands to release the CDs to gain access to the company's venues, and that the artist will have little control over whether the CD is released or not.

While the ownership issue is likely to remain contentious, Simon asserts his program is in no way unfriendly to the artist. "This is one of several artist-based initiatives that [Clear Channel] is pursuing," he says, adding that the Clear Channel approach offers a service to artists, not a straightjacket. "We're taking on the burden of making the recording and plan to have it available immediately," he says.

Two other companies are simultaneously marketing themselves as alternatives to Clear Channel's efforts, and both describe themselves as being more artist-friendly.

Disclive plans to offer the same service as Clear Channel, but the releases would be "limited edition, one-night-only CD pressings of concerts," according to a company press release.

Disclive CDs would be "an individually numbered collectible that [fans] can treasure for years to come."

Spokesman Rich Isaacson sees Disclive as a "service provider...Our goal is to work with everybody who wants to work with us." Disclive will announce which artists have signed with the company in the coming weeks and promises that "the floodgates have opened, from the top artists down."

Disclive intends to send recording teams out on the road with artists to supervise recording. Fans will be able to pre-order the discs online or order them during the show at kiosks in the venue. The discs would be distributed at the end of the show and would feature unique artwork.

"Our idea started with leaving a great show and thinking, 'Man, I wish I had that to take home with me.' There have been tons of live CDs, but the key appeal [with Disclive] is leaving the show with the CD."

Disclive may consider making some CDs more readily available to comply with artists' wishes or to counteract fans trading the CDs over the Net. "If artists don't want to limit the run or the demand changes, we would consider it, but that's not the plan for the launch. Initially, we're providing a unique item for the core fan of the artist in collaboration with the artist and the record company," Isaacson says.

Finally, there is Rockslide, Ramie Egan's company that signs direct agreements with artists and then sends them on the road with recording equipment. The band mails back tapes that they want released, and they are made available at Rockslide.com.

The company's approach lacks the immediacy of the other two plans, but offers the artist more quality control. Currently, the company specializes in unsigned bands with proven, dedicated followings like Dispatch, RANA and Rich Price.

"This is a niche that's going to be filled in some shape or form, and we believe that building from the ground up, partnering with the artist, is the way to go. The artists bring the value to the table," explains Egan. "Without our partner artists, there's nothing. Empowering the artists is the way to go. No one goes to a venue just to go to that venue-- they go to see the band."

Egan also thinks his model's flexibility will benefits the artist. "They're never obligated to release anything. We're helping the artists facilitate this process, so they have control," he says. "We've been at this for a long time relatively speaking. We've learned a lot and there is a reason that we are doing things the way we are. We are pioneering the new music industry," he says.

Regardless of how things shake down, the audience for rock music should be prepared to have unheard-of access to product from artists. "People are starting to wake up and relaize that these shows should be captured and that everyone benefits," says Egan.

Maybe not everyone. As one chat participant at icemagazine.com recently said of Clear Channel's plan, "Just what we need--200 crappy Creed shows."

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I thought we already had these... they're called "bootlegs".