Billy Idol and DiscLive

Yeah, but you weren't standing there in the studio while they performed the songs! I fully understand the lack of appeal of live CDs for a lot of folks, but I am really into this idea. Fountains of Wayne and Washington Social Club live CDs will both be better than their studio efforts! Plus, BAGS WAS THERE!

Originally posted by Jaguär:

Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
huh? its going to be tad expensive to tote around a van full of high speed cd burners and production equipment. not to mention that the artist and the venue wants their cut of the action.

And it's about the same price as a CD that uses a fully stocked professional studio with expensive studio time; hired engineers, etc; cover artists (as in CD art work); CD manufacturing; promotions; shipping; etc…

They sell t-shirts at the movies? Am I going to have to start making home made movie t-shirts?

I don't think I've ever bought movie popcorn. Though I've been known to sneak in a Snickers bar or a Coke.

Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
but do people complain about the price of t-shirts or popcorn at movie theaters?

And I agree, $15 makes sense and feels like a much better price.

Originally posted by Rhett Miller:
They sell t-shirts at the movies? Am I going to have to start making home made movie t-shirts?

I don't think I've ever bought movie popcorn. Though I've been known to sneak in a Snickers bar or a Coke.

Just out of curiosity….what do you spend your money on?

Originally posted by Anton Newcombe:
$50,000 a year for Billy Idol, I bet he spends all of that on leather trousers and hair gel.

So if I finally get my new job I will be getting more than chump change?

And why did you call me bubba?

That's $50k above and beyond whatever he's already pulling down on touring.

Will your new job be paying you $50k more than you are currently making?

Since you desire to become fully assimilated to American culture, I felt you needed a good American nickname. Henceforth, you will be known as "Bubba." Wear the name with pride.

Why not call him "Dale"?

Originally posted by Rhett Miller:
Why not call him "Dale"?

Too late.

No it will not be paying that much more, especially not after they take off social security and healthcare and pension………

Trying to save as much as quickly as possible for a down payment for a house. Then we'll have to start saving for when she's home with the baby in a few years.

But what do we spend on? Well, we both like to travel. Just booked two nights in an NYC hotel, got a 4.5 star place off of Hotwire. Hiked in the Adirondacks, the Dolomites in Italy, and Mt Rainier all this year.

I guess we're more inclined to spend on vacation, and be more frugal with everyday life.

I'll bet all of your $$ goes for the country club membership?


[/qb]Just out of curiosity….what do you spend your money on? [/QB]

Originally posted by Rhett Miller:
I'll bet all of your $$ goes for the country club membership?

No. As a legacy the dues are pretty reasonable.

I love the idea of being able to walk out of the show with a copy of the concert from that night on CD…it's a great idea, and I'm sure that bands will really investigate this because it will probably give them a nice monetary boost. You gotta figure Clear Channel or Ticketbastard or whoever is going to get involved somehow and find a way to cash in, as will the record labels. Good for Billy though for doing this. I would imagine if the band had a bad night it could be disappointing though…I'm sure if it was a disaster, the band could demand that copies not be burned for fear that they would be circulated. But it's a fantastic idea.

Originally posted by bags:
And I agree, $15 makes sense and feels like a much better price.

Depends on the amount of recorded time per disc too. It's much easier to argue over the cost of a single disc and average length show but the concert disc should be a little less money than a studio disc.

The technology may be new but you know with tech stuff, it will go down in price and a few shows will pay for the equipement that will be used over and over. Don't know about how difficult it is to use, hence the skills required for the techies. Hopefully, it's the artists who get the bulk of the change. Clear Crap and the others won't like that and I'm sure will work up some scam to screw them over in time. Would be best in everyone's interest if the company allows for online and mail order after show archieved purchases. I know that's a whole other ball of wax involving other issues.

Bottom line, it has to be priced low enough to get a decent percentage of people to actually make the decision that night to stop and plob down more money vs those who make the frugal (and NOT necessarily cheap) decision to walk away.

Sure, I'd love to have a disc from the night of a good show that I've just seen, but I'd love to have a do lots of things that I can't afford. Financial decisions have to be made and sometimes a lot of things nixed off of my want list. And why the heck would I be easily be willing to spend $15 for a disc when I can now get a Universal studio disc for $9-$12?

Just out of curiosity, did you notice if they were set up for credit card purchases? I know merch stands usually can't do that. That will often make or break a sale.

And who the heck thinks that movie theatre popcorn is reasonably priced!? :eek: Yeah, we all know the reasons why it's so expensive but even the rich make jokes about how expensive it is, which is a form of complaint. And there are many others who refuse to buy it for that very reason.

disc live facts:

*they were set up for credit card sales.
*they were selling a two disc set with artwork, not just a plain cdr.
*their contract (with idol, at least) allows them to burn 1000 copies of each show. anything not sold at the venue will be available either individually or as a part of a box set on their website.

DiscLive was set up for credit card purchase…thats how i got my CD. and the show was 2 hours almost exactly. but just like a Tshirt or any other overpriced souvenier, you buy it for nostalgia and that makes the value of almost anything go up.
I dont see them really lowering the prices but doing it at more shows is more likely to happen sooner…but dont expect the "young crowd" bands to do it for a while.
Also, www.disclive.com is the site and you CAN buy the CD online, quantities permitting i assume.

I wont be buying a CD everytime i get a chance, but if its someone really cool…maybe I'll have 2 less drinks at the show!

Originally posted by thatguy:
disc live facts:

*they were set up for credit card sales.
*they were selling a two disc set with artwork, not just a plain cdr.
*their contract (with idol, at least) allows them to burn 1000 copies of each show. anything not sold at the venue will be available either individually or as a part of a box set on their website.

guess i am a slow typer….thanks!

oh, and BTW….the cd was in VERY nice packaging indeed. Nothing short of what you would buy in the store, sans the tracklisting (obviously) and maybe a cute picture book, but who the hell needs those anyway.

LOS ANGELESâ??They'll probably never replace T-shirts, but live CDs are starting to make headway as the new concert souvenir.

Throughout this event-heavy summer, live concerts are being recorded onto discs and sold shortly after the performances. Post-concert CDs are typically two- or three-disc sets that sell for about $20 each.

Few major acts have agreed to participate in this new concert merchandising segment, and most of the activity is taking place at small venues. Revenue has been modest.

Still, two high-profile concert-CD startup companies â?? DiscLive and Instant Live â?? believe they can eventually win the faith of the industry's biggest names.

"It's clearly going to take some time for this to be a widely accepted format," says Steve Simon, executive VP of music for Clear Channel Entertainment, which operates Instant Live.

Instant Live is in the midst of its first big test, with a run of amphitheatre dates by the Allman Brothers Band.

At the first show, an Aug. 3 performance at Meadows Music Center in Hartford, Conn., all 500 three-CD packages available sold for $22 apiece (U.S.) The buyers represented 10 per cent of the total crowd.

DiscLive's opening salvo involved three June shows by Jefferson Starship. At those shows, the company sold a total of 225 CD bundles. That means 25 per cent of the 900 people in attendance bought the $25 CD sets, according to DiscLive founder Rich Isaacson, the former head of Loud Records.

Since then, DiscLive has pacted with management firm 10th Street Entertainment, whose acts â?? including Hanson, Motley Crue, Yes and Meat Loaf â?? will likely use the company's services for future tours. Also, Billy Idol will sell DiscLive CDs at 10 of his shows in September.

A number of less-publicized companies also report doing brisk business. These companies â?? including TheMusic.com and Kufala Recordings â?? typically take orders at the shows, then mail the finished discs.

In the case of DiscLive and Instant Live, the CDs are available right after the show ends.

Each business method has its advantages. The ability to deliver the CDs at the shows provides instant gratification for fans. Mail-order fulfillment allows time for the disc to be remastered, resulting in a higher-quality product.

The concert CD industry was pioneered by Pearl Jam, which has offered fans CDs from dozens of its shows since 2000. Sony distributes them.

Similarly, Phish, the String Cheese Incident and the Dead sell concert CDs to their legions of loyal fans. For the most part, these acts were motivated to sell live sets as an alternative to the bootlegs that proliferate after their shows.

For Instant Live, DiscLive and their competitors, the challenge is to turn this demand into a legitimate business.

But first, they must win the trust of artists and label executives, some of whom fear that concert CDs will cannibalize sales of traditional releases.

The artists are also apprehensive about the quality of the recordings, because there is no chance to clean the discs that Instant Live and DiscLive offer.

Dave Kaplan, booking agent at the Agency, says of his act The White Stripes, "They are a band that would be uncomfortable with their stuff getting out there without them being able to listen to it first."

"It's really an accommodation to the fans by offering them the performances they attended," says Jordan Berliant, GM for 10th Street. "Even if the performances aren't perfect, it's a gesture of thanks."

Berliant acknowledges that live albums could cannibalize studio sets, but he nevertheless thinks other acts should consider the appeal of concert CDs in expanding their audience base.

For the initial Allman Brothers shows, only 500 CD bundles were produced to ensure delivery within 15 minutes after the concerts ended. Instant Live's eventual manufacturing goal is 1,500 units per show.

Sound engineers for Instant Live and DiscLive record through a mixing board and burn final discs at 24 to 34 times real time, producing hundreds of discs in time for fans to buy them as they leave the venues.

The overhead for such operations is substantial. According to sources, it would cost $300,000-$500,000 to record and replicate a typical tour.

In addition to these expenses, merchandising fees generally have to be paid to the venues. Typically, the sites have asked for 10 per cent of revenue from CDs sold at concerts; in contrast, they usually take 25 per cent of T-shirt revenue.

Reuters/Billboard