I’m not sure how widespread this practice is, but today I learned that you can buy a USB stick with the output taken directly from a live show. For example, follow this link to pre-order a guitar-shaped USB stick with the live feed of an upcoming Mark Knopfler show. I love this idea, especially for an artist with a subtle touch like Knopfler.
[Hat tip to Matt Gemmell]
A real player’s player.
Is this new or is it that’s its on USB? I saw the Divine Comedy at Somerset House in London in 2010? and you could buy a CD of the concert you had just heard on the way out (you downloaded the encore later).
I bought the USB stick after his concert last year. The recording quality is really great so it is fun listening to it. It is also awesome being able to listen to the exact concert you heard live with all talking and such, too
Many bands were doing this in recent years with CD’s, though I often wondered how that worked because CD’s take time to burn. This is a much better idea. The first thing I thought when I saw this was that if you’re going to do this at a Britney Spears concert, you better hope they record the autotune rack mount output instead of her actual live mic. Knopfler is an awesome player.
Phish also does it. Started offering sbd live downloads in 2003. Nowadays, a ticket to the show includes a free MP3 download (FLAC available too). The music is available generally less than a few hours after the show ends. There’s also an iOS app to stream every show. http://www.livephish.com/
There’s a third party that works with bands to do this. I know O.A.R. did it a couple years back. I don’t think they do it anymore because they post audio from just about ALL their shows on-line for a $10 download: http://www.liveoar.com/store/index.php