Indie band the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have made history by asking fans at a recent gig in New York to resist filming songs from their set on smartphones. The crowd in Webster Hall were encouraged to take photographs as the band powered through the gig, yet it was made very clear by singer Karen O that anyone watching the set on the screen of their iPhone or BlackBerry would meet with instant disapproval.
Roger Waters
News of this controversial move hit the web instantly, with many music fans and musicians throwing their support behind the decision and claiming that a sea of illuminated screens can ruin the experience for everyone.
Former Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters says; “It shows a lack of respect to and care for fellow concert goers, or for that matter the artist.
“Apart from anything else, how could I possibly truly experience the thing I’d paid to see and hear if I was fiddling with an iPhone, filming or twittering or chatting or whatever?”
Yet while some may complain about the presence of smartphones in venues where concerts are frequently held, there is no denying that the trend is growing. Music fans will regularly come home from a gig and upload a video of the events straight to YouTube – presuming, of course, that they didn’t already get it online on the journey back!
Venues and entrepreneurs are increasingly taking advantage of this technology, with Dublin firm 45sound harnessing the enthusiasm of amateur filmmakers in their latest product. The start-up company plans to improve the sound quality of gig videos.
Co-founder Cathal Furey says; “What our unique proprietary technology is able to do is take the poor quality on-camera audio from fan videos, and we analyse that and can see the patterns, even though it’s very weak and distorted.
“The technology takes those patterns and matches it against what we call a master audio recording, which would be a professional live audio recording from the same gig.”
This would essentially mean that each fan would have their own visual recording of the concert, yet would be able to match it seamlessly with a superior audio experience more like the actual sound on the night. For anyone wishing to preserve their memories of live music events without the muting effects of smartphone recording capabilities, this truly is revolutionary.
Venues could also benefit from this in terms of advertising by accessing hundreds of fan video. By giving a crowd-vision aspect to potential visitors, sites like the O2 Arena or MEN could showcase the views from particular sections of the crowd or even use the app as a tool to help online buyers choose their seats.
Traditionalists may not enjoy the launching of technologies such as these, which will actively encourage fan videos by the bucket load. However, for those who enjoy re-living these moments, the app cannot come soon enough.
Previous Post
London Commercial Property Boom Continues
