Universal, Clear Channel team on instant CDs

The music industry, shaken by decreasing CD sales, is turning to a high-tech, legal approach to the old "bootleg" concept of concert recordings.

The Instant Live unit of Clear Channel Entertainment Inc.'s Music Group, part of the Clear Channel Communications Inc. conglomerate, is one of the commercial ventures that have been experimenting with making instantly available CDs of live concerts, by mixing recordings on the spot and selling them to club-goers as they exit concerts. On Monday, Universal Music Group and Instant Live announced a partnership, and the concept of "instant bootlegs" is taking another step.

The partnership is the first of its kind for any of the major music companies, officials at the companies said. It also fits in with Clear Channel's plans to expand the sale of on-site live concert recording, to allow these recordings to be better-edited and distributed online, and then, sometime next year, sold as downloads for MP3 players and other devices.

The agreement announced Monday paves the way for production of live recordings with Universal's various affiliate labels, according to Stephen Prendergast, general manager of Clear Channel Music Group's Instant Live division. The deal with Universal gives it a sort of "template" agreement for division of revenue and recording ownership it can use going forward, Prendergast said.

"Were coming out of the R&D phase now, and we're starting to turn it into a business," Prendergast said.

Instant Live recordings made with Universal labels will be sold at shows, and also made available on the Instant Live Web site, individual band sites and also via online retailers, he said.

The concept of selling recordings of live concert echoes what happened in the 1960's, when the underground bootleg industry, operating outside the auspices of the record labels, started to fulfill fan needs by, for example, offering recordings of concerts they could not afford to attend. These recordings also allowed concert goers to relive the live experience. Though music companies also offered live concert recordings, the bootleg industry offered a vastly broader selection, typically at lower prices. However, that underground market was based on unauthorized tapes, and the quality of the unedited recordings varied.

In the last couple of years, technology has made it profitable for artists and companies to record and sell instant live recordings to the audience -- all through legal means. Artists like The Dead and The Black Crowes and companies like Live Discs/Sonance Entertainment Group LLC, DiscLive/Immediatek Inc. and Clear Channel have further developed the concept, which in the last year has started to reach a larger audience.

On The Black Crowes' last tour in April and May, accompanied by Instant Live’s mobile unit of recording and CD burning equipment, 24,000 people visited the concerts and 8,000 live CDs were sold, according to Prendergast.

The company has microphones placed around venues in order to capture ambient sound, mixes in signals form the stage and instruments in an on-site mixing board, and plans to release Dolby 5.1 live recordings in the fall.

"Sometimes live albums sound too sterile. We want to give you a feeling of audience participation, particularly in your car," said Prendergast.