There are a lot of internet players trying to get into the "streaming live music" space – mainly because the old business models for recorded music are such a shambolic mess. The problem is that there are damn few ways to monetize this effort and tons of competition. Anecdotally, the only guys really making coin are iTunes and whoever owns the routers that are handling all that traffic from
Limewire.
The latest attempt to carve out some elbow room is this, from Wolfgang’s Vault. This is a site devoted to selling classic rock memorabilia – concert tees, tickets, photos, etc. And not cheap stuff either – the website’s owner, Bob Sagan, got all this stuff from legendary promoter Bill Graham’s estate. The issue of whether or not he has the right to stream these amazing videos is still unsettled.
According to Rolling Stone, Sagan bought the stuff from
Clear Channel back in 2003 for about $5 mill. There are about 6,000 concert
records, of which maybe 700 have been digitized and put up online. The way they’re
getting around the law is to claim that Wolfgang’s Vault is an internet radio
station.
[Sagan] pays performance royalties through a service
called Sound Exchange and songwriting royalties to publishers on all the music
he streams. “We have rights as owners to
do what we can within the confines of the law,†he says, arguing that the site’s
security, which includes requiring users to register, is enough to stave off
most bootleggers. “That’s why we protect
the hell out of the security of the stream. And that’s why we do it for free.â€
But the model here would seem to be – attract eyeballs by giving away this content for free – and check out some of these legendary acts:
| Muddy Waters Blues Band | 11/06/1966 | Fillmore Auditorium | 12 | 57:59 | 5.0 |  |
|
 |
The Who | 04/06/1968 | Fillmore East | 12 | 57:15 | 5.0 |  |
|
Steppenwolf | 08/27/1968 | Fillmore West | 19 | 86:52 | 5.0 | |
|
Sly & the Family Stone | 10/05/1968 Late Show |
Fillmore East | 9 | 53:31 | 5.0 | |
|
Jimi Hendrix Experience | 10/11/1968 Early Show |
Winterland | 6 | 56:28 | 5.0 | |
|
Led Zeppelin | 01/11/1969 | Fillmore West | 5 | 33:27 | 5.0 | |
|
Led Zeppelin | 04/27/1969 Set 1 |
Fillmore West | 6 | 68:17 | 5.0 | |
|
Taj Mahal | 09/18/1969 | Fillmore West | 18 | 80:20 | 5.0 | |
|
Taj Mahal | 09/19/1969 | Fillmore West | 19 | 91:06 | 5.0 | |
|
The Who | 10/22/1969 | Fillmore East | 17 | 50:47 | 5.0 | |
|
Neil Young & Crazy Horse | 03/06/1970 Early Show |
Fillmore East | 7 | 44:06 | 5.0 | |
|
Miles Davis Quintet | 03/07/1970 | Fillmore East | 9 | 90:11 | 5.0 | |
|
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young | 06/06/1970 Acoustic Show |
Fillmore East | 17 | 87:09 | 5.0 | |
|
Laura Nyro | 06/20/1970 | Fillmore East | 14 | 60:41 | 5.0 | |
|
Elton John | 11/12/1970 | Fillmore West | 10 | 55:05 | 5.0 | |
|
Traffic | 11/18/1970 | Fillmore East | 12 | 64:42 | 5.0 | |
|
Mountain | 12/31/1970 | Fillmore East | 14 | 99:19 | 5.0 | |
|
The Allman Brothers Band | 01/29/1971 | Fillmore West | 7 | 73:50 | 5.0 | |
Holy Christ. The guys from "High Fidelity" would be rolling on the floor, having epileptic fits at the idea of being able to glom onto this kind of content. Whenever they want. On whatever platform they want. For free.
Sheesh. Top that, Yahoo Music.