In the old days, concert goers often taped shows on reel-to-reel machines or cassette tapes. These bootlegs—or, if you prefer, ROIOs (Recordings of Indeterminate Origin)—were often stealthily recorded, of poor sonic quality, included drunken conversations preserved for posterity, and suffered from lots of cuts and tape flips. These days, many bands allow fans to record shows for non-commerical use, and these tapers come equipped with fancy DAT recorders and high-quality mics. The results are some stunning recordings that make you feel like you were standing among thousands of your closest friends, sharing in the groove.
Instead of a taper burning a CD of the concert for some friends, and those friends trading it with others until it finally reaches you, the moden taping scene is about distribution. You can now find lossless FLAC audio files from a show available legally via BitTorrent—often less than 24 hours after a show takes place. For popular bands, there may even be multiple recordings to choose from. Note that iTunes can’t import or play FLAC files, but free players such as Cog can, and the free Max and xACT can convert them to MP3, AAC, Apple Lossless, or other formats. And the Sonos and Squeezebox home audio systems can play FLAC files directly (find out more about those systems in our whole-home audio guide).
via Free (and some not free) live music | Audio | Playlist | Macworld.
I’ve been collecting live music so long that I used to trade tapes in the mail. Luckily, that is no longer needed. Read the article for links to several great sites for free live music downloads. I’ve been a member of DIME and The Traders Den for years and it’s well worth the effort.
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