News

Slow burn over fast burns

June 29, 2004

CHICAGO - A battle is brewing over a new program that allows fans to purchase live CD recordings of concerts immediately following the performance, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

The conflict includes several independent artists and several companies such as eMusicLive and Clear Channel that offer the recording service. Clear Channel's program -- Instant Live -- is based on new technology that processes a live-recording CD within five minutes of the end of a concert. The program can produce as many as 50 CDs every 10 minutes.

Clear Channel bought the patent for the live-recording technology from its inventors, and now claims it owns exclusive rights to the concept of selling concert CDs after shows.

"We want to be artist-friendly," said Clear Channel executive and Instant Live director Steve Simon. "But it is a business, and it's not going to be, 'We have the patent, now everybody can use it for free.' "

Brian Becker, chief executive of Clear Channel's live entertainment unit, said, "We want this service to be in widespread use and welcome all legitimate and serious conversations with those interested in licensing our patent. We will not, however, conduct licensing conversations in public or via the media."

The New York equity firm that owns eMusicLive is ready to fight Clear Channel on the issue. "We don't believe that our business practices infringe on anybody's intellectual property," Danny Stein, CEO of Dimensional Associates.

"We're an enterprise that has patent lawyers that are equal to their patent lawyers," Stein said. "Basically, they're trying to intimidate bands and smaller companies. We're in a more advantageous spot than the other 80 people they're hunting, because they're going after a lot of artists and people with no resources."

According to the Sun-Times, Clear Channel's declaration of war has not affected eMusicLive's operations. In fact the company plans to to introduce onsite kiosks where concertgoers can download the show they just saw to a 128-MB USB pen drive. The first of these kiosks recently debuted at Maxwell's in Hoboken, N.J. 

"It takes 10 seconds, and it's even easier than buying a CD because you don't have to carry it home," said Stein. "You can bring your own pen drive, or you can buy one right there at the kiosk if you don't already have one."