Acting Local is Also About Local Time
Once again, the saying is proven: “Think globally, act locally”. Many bands have begun to engage in the recording of their concerts and distributing the recroding, sometimes even right at the venue. This is thinking globally because of a global access to the recordings, but acting locally because it is local in terms of not just place but time as well. It’s the concert that counts — the experience — and not just the music. from this article
“One unusual and innovative concept that the band will be doing is creating and selling live albums as they tour. The limited edition discs will be titled Pixies Live and the way it will work is while they are on tour they will have a DiscLive truck that will have the capacity to record and manufacture the CDs on the spot. Only 1,000 CDs will be made of every show (2,000 for the May 1 Coachella Valley Festival performance). There will be no reprints. Fans will be able to purchase these CDs at point of sale stations. These will be set up at all tour venues, where fans can purchase a voucher before the show begins, then turn in that voucher some 10-15 minutes following the show, at which time they’ll be handed a double CD of that night’s performance, complete with artwork that will include the concert’s date and location.”
More and more bands are engaging in exactly this tactic. I see it as further proof that the recording industry and the hit album has really been an anamoly in history. For thousands of years musicians were supported by patrons and those who came to see their shows. John Linnell of They Might Be Giants, someone whom I consider to be one of the smarter men in music holds the same opinion. Music is an experience, not a piece of media. It is a memory and a relation, not a commodity. For this reason, thinking about music as a local occurrence may be the smartest thing that musicians are doing right now.