Live Streaming Video

[Phalex]

My drummer has taken over as webmaster for one of my favorite venues to play here in town. The website has been completely revamped, and is about 200% better than what it used to be.

The owner of the club is considering putting in web cams that would feature the stage area so you could see bands playing there from the comfort of your own living room. I'm not sure if there would be an audio component involved, but I imagine that no matter what you did it would sound like total crap.

I think it's kind of a cool idea, but my drummer is very resistant and I think he's pretty much talked the owner out of the idea.

His reasoning is that this particular bar is more often than not standing room only when bands are playing. He feels that people would use the webcam feature more as a means of gauging how packed the place is instead of using it to see who's playing at the moment, and perhaps decide to stay at home rather than cram into a packed bar.

So.......

Is streaming video a good idea, or is it less than a good idea in this instance? Would you stay home if it looked like you might not get a seat once you got there??

[Pilgrim]

That's not the biggest issue. Any recording of your performance is copyrighted at the moment it's created - and your band owns it unless you have signed the rights over to someone else. The venue owner has not considered this aspect of his idea.

I like the idea, and since I deal with the creation of online courses and events, my professional opinion is that no one is likely to stay home if it's available online. On the contrary, it would be good publicity and would create recordings FOR YOU that you can re-use. I think your drummer is wrong in his assessment - but that's not surprising, because you have to re-think this in a different way.

People don't come to a venue just to hear music (which will sound different at home anyway) they come for the social atmosphere. Music is an enhancement to the "product" (social setting) but unless you're ZZ Top, music is not the primary product the venue is selling.

Just don't forget the copyright aspect while you're working through it.

I didn't vote because none of the answers provided are appropriate.

[Steve]

Nothing is carved in stone.
If it has a negative impact it doesn't take a lot of effort to pull the plug.

All he's really out is the cost of the server side horsepower to make that happen effectively and he may have that already.

[rarisgod]

I voted no but misunderstood I don't think it'd be a horrible idea, but I think it migh also loe some business for the club.