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White Collar Criminals

EVER SHOT CONCERT FOOTAGE WITH YOUR iPHONE BEFORE?

 Monday, June 20th, 2011 at 4:00pm by

Well, you may not be able to do so for much longer. From Metal Injection:

“Several sources are reporting that Apple has filed a patent application to stop you from shooting live events! The application reveals potential plans to build a system that detects iPhone video filming at venues using infra-red sensors which will in turn bounce back and contact the iPhone in your hand to automatically disable it.”

This idea, of course, is to deter concert bootleggers, something the industry has been trying, and failing, to do pretty much for as long there have been portable recording devices; Metal Injection even points out that such a system would be ”in the interest of the record labels who distribute the music of the performers in these live events, the same labels Apple has very sweet licensing deals with,” because, y’know, I’m sure all parties involved would prefer that every time a band performs a new song live, it didn’t end up on YouTube.

And I’m of two minds about this myself. For one thing, I actually think those YouTube videos can be good publicity; folks watch ‘em because they like the band and wanna hear some shit. I don’t think anyone is using them as a substitute for higher-quality recordings. And this will do nothing to stop illegal music downloading, which I think is a much larger threat to the music biz than kids filming concerts with their cellphones.

(I would also be much happier to hear that Apple was working on technology that prevented people from using their phones in movie theaters. That nonsense is seriously ruining the moviegoing experience, and if you’ve ever taken a call or texted someone in the middle of  a move theater while the movie was playing, please kindly do us all a favor and shove that phone right up your ass.)

On the other hand, the quality of such footage is usually terrible, and I understand why bands and labels wouldn’t necessarily want it out there — they want to be their best foot forward, after all. Better to have high quality, professionally filmed concert footage — like the kind in which Metal Injection itself specializes! — then just some random shit out there.

But I’m curious to hear what you guys think. Is this a great idea? A terrible idea? If the system will prevent iPhone owners from filming concerts but no one else, will it just make you wanna buy an Android or Flip Cam or something? Weigh in below.

-AR

  • JoeTheRipper

    Not much metal news going on today, is there?

    • Conor

      Not much journalism, either. Axl, please link to the USPTO entry for this alleged patent. It does not appear in any of the “sources” cited.

      • turds

        yet another reason that droid > iphone

        • boazhimself

          1

        • http://www.facebook.com/people/Guido-Perdomo/501074174 Guido Perdomo

          +1!

        • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jeremy-Schnoor/100000513072818 Jeremy Schnoor

          Was actually going to mention that.

        • Joshie

          Hell, the Droid has a “concert” mode for recording video, and the X has three microphones for recording concert sound better. I think Droid and Apple are on two sides of this debate.

          • You All Blow

            hopefully this puts an end to all the shitty quality live footage when all you want is to listen to the goddamn studio version of a song

    • releasethekraken707

      what about us local bands that dont have a video recorder but happen to have an iphone? no videos for us, decent or not? thats kinda messed up. plus this is going to give other companies the same idea, then we’re kinda screwed dont ya think?

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Brandon-Cunningham/100000167213200 Brandon Cunningham

    Nothing more annoying than seeing 1000 douche-bags holding a cellphone up in the air (blocking your view) at a concert…just enjoy the show. however on the plus side we get to hear new songs get played and see cool shit that happens at shows we normally wouldnt get to see. i think banning concert footage is fucking stupid.

    • cougar party

      Agreed. In theory, it’s great because douche-bags that hold up their cell phones at concert are a huge pet peeve of mine. However, I am certainly not a fan of the implementation of this kind of technology.

      • A fire ant

        But what will we do without iPhone quality footage? What will become of us?

        • Hahahahahahahahahaha

          Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaa…jeez!

    • Anthony

      Rather those douchebags stand still and film a show then the ones who are moshing disrespectfully (you know, against etiquette), and doing karate kicks and punches on the floor area. If you don’t want your view to be blocked by a filmer, move to another area of the venue.

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Cleber-Monteiro/100000392246968 Cleber Monteiro

        Yeah, that’s boring! I mean… you go to a concert to watch your favorite band live and instead of enjoying the show you’re worried about capturing the whole thing in your cellphone? WTF?

        It annoys me and sometimes you can’t even see the band on stage thanks to a thousand arms raised in the air.

        • Peter Bains

          What??? Complaining against hands being in the air at a concert?? Whatever you do to make you feel good at a concert, just do it. If it’s someone in your way you have two choices. Move yourself or move the person in your way. If it’s someone doing crazy extreme moshing just push’em away. Never been a problem for me. As for filming concerts. It’s just stupid to think that fans filming ruins anything for a band. No way people will opt for a crap recording instead of a high quality one. People are not that stupid and they mostly know how youtube works, don’t they?

      • Alex

        Man I ‘m sick of people bitching about karate kicks etc. When a band plays extreme music I want extreme moshpits. If you just wanna sit there then go to the fucking opera or something where you clearly belong.

  • edgesince84

    I believe this patent filing was pretty old. What’s the date on the patent application? Or is that not newsworthy? We need those page views!

  • Tim

    I don’t like how controlling Apple is with their merchandise. It makes me question purchasing any more of it.

  • Kye

    I love my iPhone and I rarely do more than take a picture or two at a show, if that, so this doesn’t really mean anything to me.

    However, I don’t exactly approve of the idea either. What’s going to allow the software to determine the difference between a concert and a band practice with some people watching. The camera and mic aren’t the most sophisticated devices imaginable, but if I wanted to record my band practicing to see how a new song sounded live, then I should certainly hope this wouldn’t create issues.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Louis-Taylor/509886837 Louis Taylor

      Kye, I’m not sure that Apple are proposing some kind of image recognition software to stop people from recording shows.

      I mean the software would have to recognise a full orchestra as well as a one man band show to protect ever potential incidence.

      • Kuranes

        This only disables video if the venue has special infrared transmitters set up near the stage. This won’t stop you from recording your own band.

        • Kye

          Apparently I should read the entire article next time. Thanks for pointing that out guys!

  • BewareTheWater

    I hope this happens for no other reason than to force EVERY dickhead out there to quit holding up their glowing phone in the middle of a show. You know the footage will suck, and you paid money to go watch the band, so why are you blocking my view and distracting yourself from the actual performance?

    The past few bigger shows I’ve been to, its been clear that the use of smartphones during concerts is getting out of control. People need to disconnect from their phones and connect with the musicians they paid to see.

    • King Cheezit

      I agree whole heartedly, although I use Kodak’s HD “flip” camera to make my own permanent concert memories I do not like that I have to waste a song away by focusing on the screen and all…but bands like CHimaira change my mind every day, their newest track “Trigger Finger” was played first in Cleveland and in the video Mark clearly says “Get out your iPhones and put this on youtube.” The very same Mark that TOOK MY CAMERA from my hands while filming from the front row and filmed the crowd a little bit from the stage before giving it back to me! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryz5aodMiss

      Ultimately, the fan-filmed concert footage is some of the best, FREE advertisement some bands get. Now if only some people realized their phones/cameras got shitty quality, don’t deserve to be on the internet and hence are not worth the wasted concert time. As for Apple sticking their nose where it doesn’t belong, the second their phones and whatever can detect what I’m filming and whether it’s allowed or not is when I leave their technology alone and I love my macbook, but I went Motorolla Xoom in the tablet world.

  • prettyinblack

    I don’t use my iPhone for video because mine is the crap 3G that doesn’t have video.

    But this doesn’t do too much. Pretty much everyone has a digital camera and most of them have recording capabilities that aren’t too shabby, depending on where you end up standing. I’ve gotten some concert footage myself with my camera and it worked out not too badly, considering.

  • Android

    Just another reason to hate Apple.

    iPhones are overpriced garbage anyway, any one of the Motorola Droids shits all over the iPhone.

  • The Ghost With The Most

    ………told ya.

  • The Other Matt

    If you want to spend any amount of time at a concert filming a band through some shitty video recording device then go right ahead, not only are you missing the experience of the show you just paid for but you’re missing it just to grab some worthless shit footage that was a complete waste of your time filming in the first place. If this keeps those fucking awful quality videos out of my youtube searches then i’m all for it. They should find a way to feed the signal back so that the iphone blows up in your face and gives you third degree burns for being such an asshole.

    • nick

      You should talk to some older folks about what concerts were like in the ’70s. For those bands that did allow recordings, people would bring their bulky reel-to-reel field recorders, mic booms, giant headphones… Many of these recordings are highly sought after. The Grateful Dead cultists live for those bootlegs. It’s a great tradition that brings fans closer to bands. The technology has changed and for the better I think, being less intrusive as it is.

  • Aether Jake

    So like, does it distinguish between large pop/rock concerts and local shows? That’s the only way I can see this as being a good thing.

    Whatevs, I don’t have an Iphone, so no matter.

  • Zsa Zsa Gabor’s amputated leg used as a dildo and a bludgeon to beat people to death with

    If it gets rid of annoying people who can’t live in the moment and have to fucking film everything and ruin other people’s viewing on the stage, good riddance. The only people who should film are the people who film it with legitimate equipment.

    • nick

      Hand-held HD cameras can take terrific footage. Digital audio field recorders are a great complement if you want high quality sound and each one can fit easily in your pockets. People holding their cameras up don’t bother me anymore than a tall person standing in front of me.

  • Kurt Cocain

    What stupid fucking idea. While I do agree that it’s annoying as hell to see a ton of people recording shows, they should be able to what they want with their phones. Apple is total fucking garbage and seriously becoming a technological big brother- sucking people in to use their devices and service and creating restrictions to use them. Apple is going to lose business because of stupid BS like this. I’m glad I don’t own any of their over priced garbage which breaks down after 2 years. Fuck Apple.

    • Obey the Badger

      Big Brother comparisons are way overused…

      Big Brother was a government figure, not a figure from a private company. You purchase a product knowing full well that there may be limitations to it. Quite frankly, if Apple feels the need to protect the record companies, then they can. It’s no different than Sony or Microsoft fucking with your gaming system when you illegally download shit to it.

      I, too, think it’s stupid, but for totally different reasons. And I honestly doubt that they lose business over this. I’d say a vast majority of people use their smartphones for far more than recording shitty videos.

      Take your fucking pills.

  • http://thatdevilmusic.net Rob Liz

    If I had a phone worth a shit to record a video it would be to capture a minute or two of clips to insert into concert reviews. I have never wrapped my head around recording a whole show from a smartphone though because unless you do have an iphone it’s going to be unlistenable due to white noise and at times unwatchable because of the camera shaking.

    People are overdoing it because in this day and age you have a pocket sized camcorder where in the old days you had to rely on your memories to relive the experience. Camera weren’t even allowed. The bands didn’t want flashes in their eyes while performing so cameras were confiscated. I doubt seriously that anyone is there to bootleg their videos. It’s just obnoxious because for a bit of memories it ruins it for everyone around that does not have a smartphone in the air.

    • Bro

      People bootleg concerts all the time, just (usually) not for sale. Ever heard of dimeadozen?

  • brookh

    Well that’s not going to work.

  • Obey the Badger

    The footage from the iPhone is crappy so I don’t understand how this hurts the industry? Hell, I hardly ever watch live bootleg footage because I can’t get over the crappy video and audio half the time.

    Hell, shouldn’t the biggest concern be those tiny Flip cameras or whatever they’re called?

    • darkdragon

      When Im looking for decent live footage on youtube it sucks I have to wade through all that bad cell phone camera shit just to find a decent pro shot video.

  • http://www.schenkeltown.com SchenkelTown

    they need to make an app that prevents people from attening concerts if they have bieber haircuts

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Dustin-Comorski/100000498189560 Dustin Comorski

      Aye

  • Nick

    It’s ridiculous how many pocket-sized recording devices are lit up all over a crowd watching an expensive as all hell show(most shows really).

    However I think the NUMBER ONE priority needs to be ways to stop FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY! That shit is annoying for EVERYONE involved besides the clueless idiot flashing away through the entire show.

    • huntermc

      Besides, the range for the flash on your average camera is only about ten feet, plus it illuminates the smoke that’s usually in the air at most concerts it just washes out into grey.

      I’ve found I get much better shots if I can adjust the shutter speed to stay open longer and try to hold the camera still.

  • http://www.youtube.com/user/engleprunt engleprunt

    At the recent Rammstein show in Oakland, I was pretty pissed off that at least a third of the audience on the floor was filming the whole fucking show on their smartphones. I commented to my friend while in the pit that if we happened to get knocked into any dipshit with their phone in the air and it dropped on the floor, I would happily “accidently” stomp the shit out of it and it would be their fault. Enjoy the show you paid to see and rely on your memory to relive your experience. No one will want to watch the bullshit you recorded on your shit smartphone.
    That being said, Apple shouldn’t control this type of behavior. It should be up to the venues to control. Once at a Porcupine Tree concert, the band asked that no one use their phone during the set. For the most part, people respected that request and ushers did their part to enforce it politely. Seems like a more reasonable way to deal with this.

    • nick

      “Enjoy the show you paid to see and rely on your memory to relive your experience. No one will want to watch the bullshit you recorded on your shit smartphone.”

      People record their vacations and it’s perfectly acceptable. The urge to record a concert is no different.

  • Nick

    Its funny how this is soo accepted now, when I used to go to concerts alot you couldn’t almost never bring anything in. You couldn’t take videos or pictures, but this was pre cell phone and it was alot harder to sneak in a bulky camcorder or a camera than it is now. All the phone videos sound like shit now, but it is nice seeing footage sometimes.

    • huntermc

      Yeah, we wouldn’t be able to laugh at multiple angles of Andy Sixx breaking his ribs.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Kasper-Maigaard/1027001938 Kasper Maigaard

    If this is true, then we are entering Youtube-heaven. The smaller the chance of clicking on some piece of shit cellphone live-”footage” video, the better.
    It’s very much a fascist dick-move on Apple’s part, but it’ll literally make everything about live videos better. Pro-shot stuff only = good.

  • Matt

    And that’s why I rock andriod based phones

    • Matt

      Whoops, Android*

    • Android

      1

  • Kurt Cocain

    I also agree that it should be up to the bands to let the crowd know that they don’t want anyone recording at their shows. And I stand by my previous comment of Apple being a total asshole POS company.

    • nick

      That’s the idea behind this app. If an artist doesn’t want people filming, they can just buy the special lights that will turn the iPhones off.

      Terms of use agreements are pretty fucked in general. That’s why it’s a good idea to refrain from using devices that integrate all these tech features that requires some sort of “service” or data plan or whatever. Just use a phone as a phone, then get a standalone mp3 player, camera, audio recorder. You rarely need all devices at once and this way the manufacturer can’t disable any features you use.

      More people should jailbreak their devices. Soon enough there will be more competing wireless data providers as the tech gets cheaper. All voice communication will be wireless VOiP on simple WiFI devices. This is the future sayeth I.

  • huntermc

    I’m more concerned that it’s not going to stop at concert venues. Next thing you know it will be installed in police cars to stop bystanders from recording incidents of police brutality. Or middle eastern governments will implement it so that protesters can’t film soldiers shooting unarmed citizens in the streets. It’s a very slippery slope if they implement something like this. I’d say “fuck it, just buy and Android!” but the next thing you know some spineless politician will pass a bill and make this technology mandatory in all devices with a camera.

    • nick

      Here’s a man with a brain.

      Though once the tech cat is out of the bag you can’t stuff it back in. If it’s possible to do so, someone will implement it eventually. But that also means someone will find ways to circumvent it.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmy-Cecco/1808742747 Jimmy Cecco

    Sure, it’s annoying to see so many people holding up their phones in the crowd but really, who cares? As someone else mentioned, if they want to waste their time getting shitty footage let them. It shouldn’t be looked at the same way bootlegging is. No one is going to substitute this footage for a live cd/dvd; it’s just a crappy youtube video with crappy audio. Were I in a position of power at a label I really would not care about this. It’s simply a part of the way things work now, just like illegal downloading and the war on drugs it’s time to accept the state of things and adapt to them instead of police them.

    Also the greatest thing about these video clips is that there’s potential to catch interesting, humorous, and other sorts onstage incidents that would otherwise be lost forever.

  • SourDeez

    I don’t give a shit one way or another, I have a blackberry and I actually watch the concerts I go to instead of filming them. What I do think is that the whole thing is utterly pointless. Bootleggers, and I mean real bootleggers who sell recordings for money, use Flip cameras anyway. The quality is much better and they’re just as clandestine.

  • pixelate

    If you can afford an iPhone, data plan, and show tickets, you can certainly afford a video recording the band puts out later and support them. They must gets boners when posting this stuff on Facebook/YouTube for their 750+ friends thinking of all the attention they get even though most of the friends glance at it for half a second. This mentality was all over the Vancouver during the riot.

  • jibbler

    “I would also be much happier to hear that Apple was working on technology that prevented people from using their phones in movie theaters”…..it’s called a jammer, get one for $10 from your local electronics store. Runs on batteries, stick it under your seat (or in your pocket if you want to fry your balls), turn it on and destroy all network coverage in the theatre and enjoy your movie :)

    Or wait till crApple spends billions on such a thing and promoting it as something they invented.

    • hATE-eR

      Ya man, I couldn’t enjoy Super 8 cuz I was too busy squirting (secret) fluid with a rigged nasal sprayer at some FaceBooking, Tweeting fuck a few rows in front of me for half the fucking film. What’s the point of going to a movie if you’re gonna Tweet and text you pimple-faced fuckers…!!!

  • d.o.g.o.b.g.y.n.

    Moral of the story, folks: get an Android.

    • http://www.coreymitchell.com Corey Mitchell

      But whose to say Google won’t soon be getting into the music biz and pull the same thing as Apple? They’ve already done it in publishing (my career), why not music?

      • Dirtman73

        If anything, Google is worse than Apple when it comes to restricting consumer, business, and social rights.

        I’ll eat a bowl of my own feces if, in five years, Google isn’t derided in the same way as Apple is today by a large portion of the public.

  • Anthony

    It’s retarded, though I think it’s also a tad bit of wishful thinking on behalf of Apple and what not.

  • Kuranes

    Oh no, this is starting to look like the comment section on Engadget. I refuse to participate in that because if arguing online about metal bands is beta, then arguing online about phone operating systems is OMEGA.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jared-Hp/100000156202799 Jared Hp

    who cares if you film a show on an Iphone? its not like your outright using and HD videocamera

  • Pete

    While I think it’s a shitty idea for Apple to do that, It will be really awesome to go to a show and not have to stand behind the jerk or jerks all filming the show on their little glowing screens and distracting from the band on stage…

    • Pete

      Bad language. Meant to say – But, it will be really awesome to go to a show…..

  • Blut

    So…somehow poor-quality phone-taken concert footage that can barely be considered such is suddenly considered competition to record labels? Capitalism is really rearing a generation of dickless kindergardeners these days isn’t it?

  • batman

    If I’m worried about hearing a new live song on YouTube it’s not like I actually fucking need to see them. I can’t see music. The thing still has a mic.

  • rawr

    No! Now we’ll have to sneak in cameras!

    OH FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-
    UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-
    UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-
    UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-

  • John

    I agree with you about people using their phones during a movie! I have a friend who fucking sits there and texts his damn girlfriend throughout the whole movie. I quit hanging out with him because his phone is in front of his phone all the time. Fuck that bullshit.

    • Pastor of Muppets

      Two phones? That’s alpha as fuck!

  • Wow

    While most quality is pretty terrible and it can be annoying seeing a bunch of phones out at shows, I am against such a thing happening. If I, or anyone else for that matter, want to film a short video to help me remember a show I’ve been to, then I should be able to do it. Fuck what a big millionaire (more like billionaire) run corporation like Apple has to say about the matter.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Kurt-Horimoto/702126482 Kurt Horimoto

    wtf, i didn’t even know that this was illegal!

  • Mark D

    Steve Jobs strikes again! …prick.

  • jeff
  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Pete-Thorne/590185033 Pete Thorne

    if you want to see a video of the concert your at, put down the phone, exit the venue and buy the live dvd.

    I hate being at shows now where no one is in to the music they are into recording it. I always hated photojournalists too, they just get the way. Its like: “Dudes, someone is trying to ‘experience’ skeletonwitch here! oh you didn’t notice me because your eyehole is jammed through a viewfinder? well fuck, my apologies ass wipe.”

    If your friends really like you they’ll believe you saw that band even without footage to prove it.

    i never even take photos… my brain will remember the awesome time I had.

    • nick

      Yea screw cameras and preserving moments for posterity!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Steve-Bowen/502176360 Steve Bowen

    apple has been doing lots of things with the iphone lately that kinda make me (being an iphone owner) uncomfortable using one. they are now able to track where you are at all times and are able to make a profit by selling that information to marketing firms. it’s a huge invasion of privacy, and i think that if they go through with this it will just take something that’s already a problem for them to a whole new level. regardless of when deals they have made with record deals in the past, what’s it going to be next? i don’t want to end up being in the middle of a human centipad

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Will-Morley/618112437 Will Morley

    I think this is a pretty shit idea. I know a lot of people who have recorded shit like this purely so they’ve got something to remember the show with.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Matthew-Dabeast-Hawthorne/100000103231904 Matthew Da’beast Hawthorne

    All I can say is All that remains posted on their wall and the title they used was “fuck apple!” Many bands I like USE cell phone footage from the crowed to make their music videos more personal with the fans…… Just another reason I hate conformity…… Who the fuck is Apple to tell me what or what I can’t do with a phone I’m paying 150$ a month for and paid 400$ bucks to buy from the get go…..

    I never recorded anything at a show, but I can tell you I YouTube search every concert I go to a few days after and enjoy watching a show I was way to pumped at the time to fully realize the effort the band put into their performance.

    The Greatful Dead alowed their shows to be freely recorded….. And what if concerts like Woodstock had such freedom dwindling technology such as this? I for one appreciate the ability to document such events with the same freedom the generations did before me, allowing me to see such historical events with my own eye and hear them with my own ears……

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Dakota-Lee/514218616 Dakota Lee

    its called jail breaking. problem solved.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/John-Richard/1335856360 John Richard

    This sucks because Immediately after I download studio recordings illegally, I play them really loud in the next room over and record it through a hole in the wall to get the true cell-phone camera experience for all my music, not just what I record live!

  • James Jankowski

    This blows … But honestly, the iphone kinda sucks at that anyways … Good video quality, but sound pickup ia terrible sometimes, epsecially in a smaller venue. It’s a complete waste of time and energy on their part though. I have taken vids in the past to show to friends and whatnot, not to substitute for a live dvd or audio file. And as far as Youtube goes, it’s usually where I discover new bands and it’s great for exposure.

  • The Last Angry Man™

    Perhaps we should think a bit more broadly than some kid uploading a crappy recording of a crappy deathcore band, huh?

    You guys see all the recent political upheaval in the Middle East that’s rocking these despots? Maybe some pics of some cops beating up some poor schmuck for no reason in Amerikkka? All the authorities have to have now is some little infrared gadget in the area or on their car and *bingo* no evidence of uprisings, beatings, etc. Mainstream media won’t report this stuff, and now – why citizens can’t prove anything ever happened.

    This is Apple at it’s fascist worst. Why I hate everything about that company and it’s cult.

  • http://www.soundcloud.com/jasontowne Jason

    each band should film each show and sell it to the fans for 10 or 20 bucks. it would boost sales a lot. and then the kids in the crowd holding up cell phones won’t need to do that because they know at the end of the show they can buy a dvd of it. or order the dvd or buy a link to download the show from later. i know the jam band umphrey’s mcgee will encourage fans to record the show, and at the end they have a computer burning cds and they sell them to the fans right there!!