Radiohead Helps Fans Make Crowd-Sourced Live Show DVD

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Radiohead Helps Fans Make Crowd-Sourced Live Show DVD

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday September 4, 2010 @03:19PM from the welcome-to-the-riaa's-hitlist dept.

Kilrah_il writes "After having a go with a Name-Your-Price album and an open-source video, Radiohead is again breaking new ground, this time with a fan-based initiative. A group of fans went to one of the band's shows in Prague, each shooting the show from a different angle. By editing it all together and adding audio from the original masters provided by the band, they have created a video of the show that is 'Strictly not for sale — By the fans for the fans,' adding, 'Please share and enjoy.' Can this be the future of live show videos?"

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Nine Inch Nails did this first by longacre · 2010-09-04 15:25 · Score: 4, Informative

...sort of.

NIN unofficially released 400gb of raw, professionally shot concert footage and told the internet to turn it into a DVD, resulting in Another Version of the Truth.

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1. Re:Nine Inch Nails did this first by hex0D · 2010-09-04 15:30 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  IIRC, the Beastie Boys had their fans shoot video for a live DVD as well. But they didn't give it away. Thumbs up for Radiohead! They're not really my style but they seem to have more integrity than most bands out there and I got to respect the hell out of that.
2. Re:Nine Inch Nails did this first by digitalunity · 2010-09-04 15:37 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  As Trent Reznor pointed out in an interview with Digg's Kevin Rose, this business model can only work for those who are already well established or can accept not being megastars.
  Getting traction in a market flooded with crap when you don't have advertising money is a losing battle.
  
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3. Re:Nine Inch Nails did this first by Jah-Wren+Ryel · 2010-09-04 17:06 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  As Trent Reznor pointed out in an interview with Digg's Kevin Rose, this business model can only work for those who are already well established or can accept not being megastars.
  I have to say - that's a good thing. I'd rather 1,000 productive artists making a living wage than 10 megastars living the life of luxury. After all, being a megastar today is mostly an artifact of the monopoly on distribution enabled by the monopoly of copyright.
  What I think is likely to ultimately happen though is that we'll just end up with another avenue to megastardom. People really seem to like to be the same as their neighbors, so I think one way or another they will tend to converge on a handful of artists in order to share in that common experience that comes from listening to the same music (and watching the same movies and reading the same books, etc).
  I just hope that whatever new avenues to megastardom become popular, that they don't have the same level of deleterious effect on society and culture that modern copyright law has.
  
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4. Re:Nine Inch Nails did this first by Anonymous Coward · 2010-09-04 21:44 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  I don't think Radiohead care if they are megastars or not.
  Says the 'already-Megastars' band Radiohead.
  I think they would care if they were NOT already mega-stars and just starting out.
  Integrity is a nice aspiration, but human nature (and the desire to acquire 'wealth' and/or fame) unfortunately isn't so glib.
but in argentina... by ltcdata · 2010-09-04 15:29 · Score: 5, Informative

when they came here (argentina), last year, the tickets were VERY expensive... almost 100USD each... impossible to buy for many of the fans, like me :(
1. Re:but in argentina... by bm_luethke · 2010-09-04 16:23 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  They have to make their money someplace. They really do not have many choices.
  They can have normal day jobs - which means the likely hood of seeing them outside of a 200 mile radius of their residence is quite unlikely. Not really a good option so we will cross that one off the list. There are others in the "cross off list" category too - say a life of robbing banks and such, I'll assume (though given posts here I have to recall what assuming does) that we will not go there.
  They can make it from album (or CD, or MP3, or whatever the format of the day is - I'm old enough to use that term generically) sales. We here do not like this type of thing - recorded music wants to be free and it is my Right to make all the copies I want of it. So for the most part that is not going to happen. Indeed, while I do not agree with that sentiment it *is* reality. It is too easy to copy and that makes it too expensive to purchase for most. Things like jackets, art work, and such are nice - but too many of us will take a decent MP3 over a high quality loss-less digital recording with full artwork for the latter to be a money maker without artificial legal protections. Even with said protections that models days are numbered.
  So that pretty much leaves us with live shows. Not movies of them - they end up being a version of the second method to make money but with video. It will suffer the same fate. Therefore it leaves it up to live performances. Since they are popular it is going to be expensive. Given how they sell at 100 dollars a pop the chances of you getting in at 20 dollars a pop was just as slim (if not slimmer) due to demand.
  The expense has to come in some area. Maybe you already know this - after all even knowing it I wouldn't be happy if I couldn't afford tickets to something I really wanted to see - but they have to make their money someplace. Further things like "supply and demand" mean something, even were they to drop prices to cheap and their expenses somehow magically get payed you would *still* most likely be putting frowny faces on a post for the tickets being sold out and a huge number of fans angry they didn't get to go. In that case almost no one is happy other than the small group that got cheap tickets. That isn't going to be a workable long term market either.
  It's like complaining that some Open Source company want to charge for support - umm, yea.
  
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2. Re:but in argentina... by Enleth · 2010-09-04 19:53 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  There is. Sample at twice the Nyquist frequency of the recorded signal and a sample size that gives a sample resolution a tad bigger than what the recording equipment is capable of registering - measurement error formulas from the theory of metrology are your friends, coefficients come from the instruction manual for the microphone. You do know that an analog microphone doesn't have an infinite recording quality, right?
  
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3. Re:but in argentina... by lurcher · 2010-09-04 22:07 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  The important fact you are missing is real world signal to noise ratio. No source has zero noise, so below a certain signal level there is no signal only noise, so as long as the bit depth is sufficient to cover the available S/N ratio, and as long as the sampling frequency is high enough to cover the frequency range of interest, and in the case of audio thats well defined, and we could up the limit a few times to be sure. So as long as thats all met, and the equipment is working as it should, then yes, loss-less recording of the world is entirely possibly.
4. Re:but in argentina... by DMUTPeregrine · 2010-09-05 09:55 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  In addition, since all energy is quantized the momentum of the air molecules is quantized. A sufficiently sensitive recording would STILL be "digital" due to this quantization of energy. There is no analog, just very, very, very high resolution digital. Of course, that's an insanely distant limit for recordings to achieve, but ultimately true. Useless in practice.
  
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  Not a sentence!
I'm not a Radiohead fan... by KingSkippus · 2010-09-04 15:43 · Score: 5, Interesting

...but damn if stuff like this doesn't make me want to go out and buy some of their albums, even if I just give them away, to support what they're doing.
1. Re:I'm not a Radiohead fan... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-09-04 16:46 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  It's not like they were unable to download the songs later, and they paid what they thought the original tracks worth to begin with, so what is there to be pissed about? Somehow, they felt that value they paid for up front was diminished when the physical product cost less than their self-determined price? IIRC, the average patron paid about $8, so the preponderance of fans got a "good deal" (whatever that means in this context) anyway.
2. Re:I'm not a Radiohead fan... by kainosnous · 2010-09-04 17:33 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  That's exactly my reaction. I have no interest in their music. In fact, I don't currently listen to any contemporary music, and I haven't paid for music in years. However, seeing something like this almost makes me want to find a way to contribute. In reality, I'll probably never get around to sending any cash their way. Nevertheless, if I can be swayed a little, I'm sure that there are many almost fans who will get to know them and like them because of this move. I don't know if this type of marketing could work without also selling albums, concerts, etc., but I'm sure that it adds to their appeal.
  
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  There are 10 commandments: 01)Thou shalt love the Lord Thy God 10)Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.Matt22:34-40
Good for them! by StuartHankins · 2010-09-04 15:44 · Score: 4, Insightful

In today's world, it's nice to see people who "get it" and are finding new fans and publicity by doing something which hurts no one, by giving of themselves. I wish them continued success!
1. Re:Good for them! by pushing-robot · 2010-09-04 17:56 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Yeah, I hope more bands start realizing this is the right message to give to their fans. A lot of big artists would rather tell you to go stick your head in a pig.
  
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  How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
Re:Cool .... But by ltcdata · 2010-09-04 15:48 · Score: 2, Informative

I don't like NIN. I like Radiohead.
The first? Really? by matt-fu · 2010-09-04 15:48 · Score: 3, Interesting

A group of fans went to one of the band's shows ... each shooting the show from a different angle.
...editing it all together and adding audio from the original masters provided by the band

So this is exactly like the making of Bon Jovi's video for _Bad Medicine_, then?
1. Re:The first? Really? by EDinWestLA · 2010-09-04 16:27 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  A group of fans went to one of the band's shows ... each shooting the show from a different angle.
  
  ...editing it all together and adding audio from the original masters provided by the band
  So this is exactly like the making of Bon Jovi's video for _Bad Medicine_, then?
  Bon Jovi didn't do it for a whole concert then give it away for free.
Re:Cool .... But by Anonymous Coward · 2010-09-04 15:53 · Score: 2, Funny

.... I like Radiohead.
That is creepy.
Clear Channel by countertrolling · 2010-09-04 16:57 · Score: 5, Interesting

They could raise a fuss...

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1. Re:Clear Channel by EDinWestLA · 2010-09-05 02:43 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  They could raise a fuss...
  Not anymore.
  EFF Kills Bogus Clear Channel Patent
Re:Really nice job by Larryish · 2010-09-04 17:48 · Score: 4, Funny

Would buy from again, A+++plus++++++++plus++++
I was at that show by dorpel · 2010-09-04 19:39 · Score: 2, Informative

It is interesting to note that cameras weren't allowed in the venue. The tickets had a very distinct notice about that, and I personally witnessed at least one person who had to go back to the safety deposit booth to store her camera when the security guards found one in her bag entering the park. Of course there were thousands of cameras at the show, all of which must have been sneaked in. Seeing this great project and knowing the band's reputation, I assume it was the venue's idea to ban cameras. Maybe next time Radiohead will make sure this won't happen.
3d aspect by sheriff_p · 2010-09-04 20:40 · Score: 2, Interesting

I skim-read this, and was disappointed on closer reading when I realized they hadn't created a 3d montage from the video shot from all the different angles :-/

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Score:-1, Funny
Just like... by RotateLeftByte · 2010-09-04 23:50 · Score: 2, Interesting

The Greatful Dead did for years.
They sure sold millions of Albums as well as bootlegs.
Rock on in Heaven Jerry Garcia.

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Huh? by Hognoxious · 2010-09-05 03:22 · Score: 2, Funny

Please share and enjoy.
Eh? I thought we were talking about Radiohead here.

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