Concert Bootleggers Getting Smarter
New York, July 30, 2000 -- A system designed to help the hearing-impairedat concerts has provided bootleggers with a new tool to makeillegal live recordings of exceptional quality, according to therecord industry.
This latest wrinkle in the multimillion-dollar bootleggingindustry takes advantage of a federal law requiring arenas to offerpatrons use of an assistive listening device (ALD).
“We know through criminal investigations and informants thatthis is a common practice,” said Frank Creighton, senior vicepresident of anti-piracy at the Recording Industry Association ofAmerica. Bootleggers can simply request an ALD headset, which provides ahigh-quality feed of a live show via a low-level FM frequencybroadcast inside a facility.
The music pirates then steal the headset feed, giving themconcert performances devoid of the usual bootleg problems such asrandom crowd noise or distortion, Creighton said.
“The quality is much higher than a typical bootleg,” Creightoncontinued. “No question about it.”
System Legally Required Bootleggers are using the devices provided for thehearing-impaired to record near-pristine versions of concerts byveterans like Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan plus a plethora ofnew acts.
“Every major act that’s in the Billboard top 100 is gettingbootlegged in some manner,” Creighton says.
Advocates for the hearing impaired were appalled by the newpirating technique.
“Oh my goodness! What concerns me is if this becomes soprevalent that the service is dropped,” said Mercy Coogan ofGallaudet University, the Washington, D.C.-based college for deafand hard of hearing students.
“That could prohibit a whole lot of hard of hearing people fromthis very important mode of access.”
Arenas are required to provide the ALDs under the federalAmericans with Disability Act, which marked its 10th anniversaryJuly 26.
Hot Items Typical of the ALD bootlegs is an Aug. 22, 1999, Springsteenconcert from Boston’s Fleet Center — one of the most popularillegal recordings of the Boss’ E Street Band reunion tour,according to Internet sites.
The three-CD collection is advertised as “soundboard quality,”with various mentions that it was done via an ALD.
“If there [is] anybody who don’t own a single boot, buy this,”raved one bootleg buyer at a Springsteen site. “The sound is sogood you’ll think it’s an official release!!!”
Another enthusiastic reviewer offered this praise: “Theinstrument separation is outstanding and well-mixed, making thisset a joy to listen to.”
Venues Caught off Guard The ALD rip-offs were news to officials at several major concertvenues from coast to coast, including the new Staples Center in LosAngeles and the First Union Center in Philadelphia.
“We have the devices, but I haven’t heard of this,” said IkeWilliams of the First United Center in Philadelphia.
Creighton says that arena policing is generally left up to bandsand their road crews; many groups, from the Allman Brothers to theDave Matthews Band, have encouraged their fans to tape and tradelive performances.
The Recording Industry Association of America only becomesinvolved once the illegal material is manufactured and distributed,according to Creighton. The association says that hundreds ofmillions of dollars are lost annually through the various forms ofbootlegging, and this new technique should add to that total. “They’re plugging into soundboard feeds — high quality,”Creighton says. “Those types of recordings garner the largestbidders in the bootlegging underground.”