One of the cool things about The Pixies at Coachella was I could (and did) buy a double CD of their show just after their show ended. It cost 25 bucks and was well done (full real CD audio not MP3) and had a custom cover with the date etc.
It was awesome.
Well now CC says they have a patent on this. On burning lots of CD's really fast? Hmm I guess so...
FYI here is a list of the hundreds of venues CC controls. There are 86 (!) pages of them, but you can search by zip code. Type in your zip code and you'll be shocked at the big and small places listed. If you or a band were to boycott CC you wouldn't see many shows, and bands wouldn't have many places to play.
Anyway with that in mind...
A Rolling Stone News report is used in this story from All Access:
CLEAR CHANNEL ENTERTAINMENT has purchased the patent for the technology to produce so-called "Instant Live" CDs, and is allegedly attempting to utilize that patent to corner the market on the sale of post-concert CD recordings of live performances, reports ROLLING STONE. CLEAR CHANNEL claims its patent covers the company's 130 venues along with every other venue in the country.
Said STEVE SIMON, Dir. of CLEAR CHANNEL's INSTANT LIVE initiative, "We want to be artist-friendly, but it is a business, and it's not going to be 'we have the patent, now everybody can use it for free.'" That said, the company doesn't plan to stop PHISH, PEARL JAM, THE WHO or any other bands that make live recordings available days after the show. CLEAR CHANNEL has also granted one-dollar licenses to a few up-and-coming bands to record and sell instant CDs of their own shows.
According to the ROLLING STONE article, artists net about $10 for every $20-25 concert CD that's sold, no matter who acts as the CDs vendor, but that doesn't mean artists and artist management aren't a bit peeved by the development. "Presuming CLEAR CHANNEL's service and product are of equal quality, it may be best to feed the dragon rather than draw swords," says PIXIES manager KEN GOES. "Still, I'm not fond of doing business with my arm twisted behind my back."
However, one of CLEAR CHANNEL's main competitor in this burgeoning field, DISCLIVE, claims that the patent acquired by CLEAR CHANNEL does not give it exclusive rights to the business of creating recordings of live performances. The parent company, IMMEDIATEK INC., has concluded that the patent is not relevant to the DISCLIVE implementation.
ZACH BAIR, CEO and Chairman of IMMEDIATEK, said, "Our attorneys have provided CLEAR CHANNEL's attorneys with this information and more to detail why their patent is not relevant to the DISCLIVE system and requested that they provide us with specific details if they disagree with our attorneys' analysis or conclusions. In fact, we are so confident of our position that we have invited CLEAR CHANNEL to do an inspection of our implementation to verify the information we have provided them."
BIAR continued, stating, "Although discussions are ongoing, neither CLEAR CHANNEL nor their lawyers have provided us with any such details as to why their patent is relevant to the DISCLIVE system, nor have they accepted our invitation to inspect our implementation."
CLEAR CHANNEL venues say that they have already been notified that DISCLIVE is not allowed to burn and sell CDs on-site.
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