Underworld Live In Sydney NYE
Everything, Everything by Underworld is one of my favourite DVD’s of all time. Painstakingly put together over the course of a year, sliced together from lots of different performances around the world, the band constructed what they thought was the best possible re-creation of one of their live gigs for home watching and listening. They did an amazing job too. (I’m seriously considering renting out a cinema some night just to have a playback party with some friends – maybe Denzille Cinema?)
Anyway, nearly 10 years later, technology has moved on to the point where one man and his camera can capture a full gig in HD, and upload it to YouTube for the whole world to see. While I’m really happy to be able to watch this concert, it feels like a new chapter is opening up in the whole royalties / free downloads / copyright infringement issues debate.
For a lot of bands right now, live performance is the only thing bringing in any real cash. To put a web content spin on it, the unique content of a concert is worth money to people, and they have to buy a ticket to see it. A lot of bands, Underworld included, also sell CDs of their concerts, and getting that extra tenner from a percentage of the crowd can make a big difference to the profitability of a show.
While I don’t agree with the heavy handed tactics of Prince and the like trying to remove all footage of their concerts from YouTube, is posting a whole concert going to far? Does it make a difference if the band isn’t selling a recording of that gig?