Tuesday, March 11, 2003
Downloaded any of the recent Phish shows from the Phish conglomerate’s recently instituted new LivePhish Downloads (LPDL)? If you haven’t or haven’t heard of it, it’s an offshoot of the Live Phish cashcrop the Phish organization recently implemented just prior to the bands return on New Years’ Eve. LPDL make soundboard copies of shows available to the discerning listener in less than 48 hours after a show’s conclusion. It’s the ultimate vehicle for this instant gratification and satiation needed by so many of their Phans. And it cuts right though the very practice that has allowed the band to rise to the stature they have achieved today.
The taper section post LPDL is getting to be a lonely place. Not seeing those mic stands perched just above the wiggling bodies, up there calling out the band to fill them with the grooves that please us all, is unsettling to me. The dawn of LPDL era has left only the hardiest DAT-wielders and stolen a huge part of what Phish was from a lot of fresh-faced fans. Younger fans who will never truly come to appreciate the culture that was tape trading; fans who will be cheated out of what was a key element in the Phish magic.
Tape trading used to be a quest, a magical journey to find that allusive show that would often launch you into a sometimes never ending odyssey to find someone who had the show you were seeking. Maybe it was your first show, your 50th show, a New Years Show, an obscure show; a show with a good cover, the only thing that mattered was that you wanted a copy of that show. You would dedicate yourself to finding the person who could offer up that tasty trade or the B&P. It didn’t matter how long it took, you were going to find that show, and, unlike today, this quest could often take months. But upon success, the resulting feeling was something beyond words.
One such significant moment for me came after I was blown away by the ’94 New Year’s Show. I remember returning to school and being hell-bent on obtaining a copy of this gem. Back then, if you didn’t know a taper or friend of taper, your quest for a shows began and ended on the newsgroup rec.music.phish, which was and still is a simple bulletin board dedicated to the discussion of all things phish. I took every chance I could each day to log on to the group hoping against all hope I’d get lucky. And I say lucky because, in early ’95, the NYE show was the hottest and toughest show to acquire. Sure B&Ps were being posted each day, but unless you happened to catch the offer within the first few minutes, you were left out in the cold. I would literally check the messages with every free second I got. And after countless hours logged, I finally found that B&P, three months after the show.
However, in all that time it took to actually score a B&P, I was getting in on other B&P offers, trading with other folks and, most importantly, making friends in the community. This was a great sub-culture of the Phish community not only united by a love of music, but bonded by the dedication and time it took to trade tapes. This was almost a profession, one that took a significant amount of time. To spin one show for a person was a three-hour commitment. There were days when my friends and I would spend entire weekends bunkered down in someone’s dorm room with three or four decks spinning at once. This was ritual, a true bonding experience. And it’s something that will never happen again. I really I miss the days when Maxell XLII’s and padded envelopes were considered decorative items.
As CD-R technology began to become available and affordable to people, actual tape trading began to slip into the past. Sites were popping-up allover where you could download shows. However, this something was still reserved to those with some decent tech-to-itiveness and a fast connection. So acquiring CDs of shows still took some time but with the time to burn a show now practically shrunk to nothing, shows were getting into the community much quicker than they never could when tapes were still the way. However, the origin point still remained the same, tapers. Without tapers, shows would never be available, which brings me to the mischievous sprite that is LPDL.
The institution of LPDL effectively eliminates the above experiences. With shows available almost instantly, the romanticism of the taping culture will all but be eliminated. While the official Phish position is one that still encourages tapers, the reality is, they have cut off the taper lifeline…and ended an era. Sure the cantankerous lot will tell you that Phish hasn’t killed taping, rather the greedy phans have killed taping because they can’t wait for this. Of course, the Phish business development group knows this and in that has made a smart business decision. However, it is one that strikes clearly in the face of the very principle and people that helped get them to the pedestal they currently sit on.
The free trade of their shows in the early 90s created a groundswell of awareness, which directly corresponded to a substantial increase in their fan base. College campuses had an undercurrent of “heads” who were committed to these four guys from Vermont and spent a lot of their time spreading the shows around; sharin’ in the groove. It was grassroots marketing at its finest and there is no denying it paid a huge part in pushing them to the mainstream success they currently enjoy. A success that has seen them sell-out every show they have played since the hiatus ended. A hiatus that grew their legend and fan base, a fan base that the Phish organization is looking to cash in on and a hiatus that may have subconsciously been the best marketing ploy ever.
Look, Phish is a business and there is no fault in a business doing what they are supposed to do, make money. What I take issue with is where they are pulling it from. The LPDL series to me, is a seedy means to make a buck. It's one thing to charge folks upwards of $50 to see a show, but to make that very show also available for an additional fee is ridiculous. Yes, you can argue that you are not being forced to purchase these shows, but realistically, dropping $10 to obtain a show instantaneously versus having to wait weeks for a show is a no-brainer that plays right into our need to have access to information instantly.
And in that sense, the Phish marketing folks did their research. LPDL are a very low-cost way of turning a profit. I’m sure, despite their legal disclaimer dictating otherwise, they have built in a specific ratio of “illegally” disseminated LPDL shows to shows purchased. Unfortunately, what the business plan didn’t account for was the extinction of the taper and subsequent experience.
So, while the end of this era rings sad with this Phishy romantic, I’m trying to take solace in the notion that every new era needs to usher in new hope. In this case, I’m really hoping the LPDL era will resurrect the long lost art of concert bootlegging. So be on the lookout for some tasty B&P SBD offers. I’ve always wanted to be a pirate.
The taper section post LPDL is getting to be a lonely place. Not seeing those mic stands perched just above the wiggling bodies, up there calling out the band to fill them with the grooves that please us all, is unsettling to me. The dawn of LPDL era has left only the hardiest DAT-wielders and stolen a huge part of what Phish was from a lot of fresh-faced fans. Younger fans who will never truly come to appreciate the culture that was tape trading; fans who will be cheated out of what was a key element in the Phish magic.
Tape trading used to be a quest, a magical journey to find that allusive show that would often launch you into a sometimes never ending odyssey to find someone who had the show you were seeking. Maybe it was your first show, your 50th show, a New Years Show, an obscure show; a show with a good cover, the only thing that mattered was that you wanted a copy of that show. You would dedicate yourself to finding the person who could offer up that tasty trade or the B&P. It didn’t matter how long it took, you were going to find that show, and, unlike today, this quest could often take months. But upon success, the resulting feeling was something beyond words.
One such significant moment for me came after I was blown away by the ’94 New Year’s Show. I remember returning to school and being hell-bent on obtaining a copy of this gem. Back then, if you didn’t know a taper or friend of taper, your quest for a shows began and ended on the newsgroup rec.music.phish, which was and still is a simple bulletin board dedicated to the discussion of all things phish. I took every chance I could each day to log on to the group hoping against all hope I’d get lucky. And I say lucky because, in early ’95, the NYE show was the hottest and toughest show to acquire. Sure B&Ps were being posted each day, but unless you happened to catch the offer within the first few minutes, you were left out in the cold. I would literally check the messages with every free second I got. And after countless hours logged, I finally found that B&P, three months after the show.
However, in all that time it took to actually score a B&P, I was getting in on other B&P offers, trading with other folks and, most importantly, making friends in the community. This was a great sub-culture of the Phish community not only united by a love of music, but bonded by the dedication and time it took to trade tapes. This was almost a profession, one that took a significant amount of time. To spin one show for a person was a three-hour commitment. There were days when my friends and I would spend entire weekends bunkered down in someone’s dorm room with three or four decks spinning at once. This was ritual, a true bonding experience. And it’s something that will never happen again. I really I miss the days when Maxell XLII’s and padded envelopes were considered decorative items.
As CD-R technology began to become available and affordable to people, actual tape trading began to slip into the past. Sites were popping-up allover where you could download shows. However, this something was still reserved to those with some decent tech-to-itiveness and a fast connection. So acquiring CDs of shows still took some time but with the time to burn a show now practically shrunk to nothing, shows were getting into the community much quicker than they never could when tapes were still the way. However, the origin point still remained the same, tapers. Without tapers, shows would never be available, which brings me to the mischievous sprite that is LPDL.
The institution of LPDL effectively eliminates the above experiences. With shows available almost instantly, the romanticism of the taping culture will all but be eliminated. While the official Phish position is one that still encourages tapers, the reality is, they have cut off the taper lifeline…and ended an era. Sure the cantankerous lot will tell you that Phish hasn’t killed taping, rather the greedy phans have killed taping because they can’t wait for this. Of course, the Phish business development group knows this and in that has made a smart business decision. However, it is one that strikes clearly in the face of the very principle and people that helped get them to the pedestal they currently sit on.
The free trade of their shows in the early 90s created a groundswell of awareness, which directly corresponded to a substantial increase in their fan base. College campuses had an undercurrent of “heads” who were committed to these four guys from Vermont and spent a lot of their time spreading the shows around; sharin’ in the groove. It was grassroots marketing at its finest and there is no denying it paid a huge part in pushing them to the mainstream success they currently enjoy. A success that has seen them sell-out every show they have played since the hiatus ended. A hiatus that grew their legend and fan base, a fan base that the Phish organization is looking to cash in on and a hiatus that may have subconsciously been the best marketing ploy ever.
Look, Phish is a business and there is no fault in a business doing what they are supposed to do, make money. What I take issue with is where they are pulling it from. The LPDL series to me, is a seedy means to make a buck. It's one thing to charge folks upwards of $50 to see a show, but to make that very show also available for an additional fee is ridiculous. Yes, you can argue that you are not being forced to purchase these shows, but realistically, dropping $10 to obtain a show instantaneously versus having to wait weeks for a show is a no-brainer that plays right into our need to have access to information instantly.
And in that sense, the Phish marketing folks did their research. LPDL are a very low-cost way of turning a profit. I’m sure, despite their legal disclaimer dictating otherwise, they have built in a specific ratio of “illegally” disseminated LPDL shows to shows purchased. Unfortunately, what the business plan didn’t account for was the extinction of the taper and subsequent experience.
So, while the end of this era rings sad with this Phishy romantic, I’m trying to take solace in the notion that every new era needs to usher in new hope. In this case, I’m really hoping the LPDL era will resurrect the long lost art of concert bootlegging. So be on the lookout for some tasty B&P SBD offers. I’ve always wanted to be a pirate.
