Ongoing History Daily: Quaint instant recordings

About 15 years ago, the music industry was being decimated by illegal file-sharing and downloading. This forced some acts to pivot into new spaces.

Several groups, including the Pixies, offered audiences the chance to buy a CD copy of that gig on their way out. The “instant concert CD” was seen as a way to make money otherwise lost to bootlegs. There was also the “instant concert DVD.” Pop Will Eat Itself, a fine British group, set a world record for fastest DVD issue back in January 2005. On the 23rd, they recorded a show in Birmingham, England. The disc was mixed overnight, duplicated on the morning of the 24th and that night, discs went on sale at a show in London. From gig to DVD in less than 24 hours.

Revolutionary for the time, quaint today.

Here’s a sample. I was at that show and about this disc for $30.

Friday’s post was about Jonathan Davis’ creepy car collection.