Topic: Money for nothing/taping?

[rvman]

Hey guys -
 
I'm one of the mods involved in purelivegigs.com, a bittorrent live concert sharing site, & wanted to get your feedback on s/thing that we thought could be very cool for tapers -
 
Our feeling is people are doing a great job providing the community with live shows, but often times the only thanks is a leech and run, or a question/accusation about the audio quality. 
 
In addition to a heartfelt thx to everyone who's posted material at purelivegigs, we're planning to offer the option of an additional meaningful thanks to the guys on the front lines getting the best new shows: 

We're going to institute a method whereby people can donate funds to help defray the costs of your ticket if you provide a show (if you want people to pass the proverbial hat for you - it's not required, just an option).  While it might not add up to a lot of money, at least it might help pay for the cost of your ticket or taping supplies.  We're not saying people should pay for the shows, but we for one would like to pitch in when someone pays for a ticket to a show & brings their gear for the good of the community...
 
My question is if you would support such a system and if you had any thoughts about how best to institute it.  Wanted to hear from the folks in the trenches before we did it...
 
Thx for your input -

[Gordon]

only time I would want money for a ticket would be if it was a show I had no interest in taping but was asked to.

[Teen Age Riot]

I'd say no thanks.

[rvman]

We're trying to do s/thing good for all involved if possible.  Just an idea.  I think it's a cool notion -maybe it's better to think about it as buying you a drink as a "cheers" or more likely a gumball, as the case may be - we're not trying to offend anyone or suggest people should pay for the music -

Back in the day, didn't people get "sponsored" to follow Dead tours & tape?  That's somewhat of the feeling here.  No harm meant.

[firmdragon]

deep inside i also have an uneasy feeling, but i'm not against this. i just can't ignore the fact that at some shows, the media i spend on a show costs more than the ticket itself.

[leegeddy]

imho, it's best to separate money entirely out of the picture, no matter how good the intentions may be.

marc

[rocksuitcase]

Been taping almost 25 years, owned a sound company for about 8 years.  when a client offered to pay for taping, we would let them.  But that is on a professional basis.  OTH, if a client asked for "no taping" we usually wouldn't even stealth it, just my own sense of propriety. 
I think this concept. while noble in it's origins, may lead to less than noble outcomes.

As for the idea of folks "sponsoring" other folks on Dead tour, my mentor ( Prescolito are you out there?) loaned me all his gear for two dead tours ( spring/summer 1982) as I was going and he could not.  I paid for everything else. I then bought my own gear and haven't been the same ever since

[spreadheadtom]

imo,... It would make it too easy for artists to tie us into bootlegging with monies offered/exchnaged, regardless of intent.

agreed

[kfrinkle]

Being a poor grad student, I decided to let my friend buy me a ticket to a Social Distortion show.  Being all cocky and only being busted once before, I decide to take him up on that offer.  The poor guy spends 30 bucks on me, I get to the venue, and guess what?  Yeppers, thats right, i get busted.  They were checking people for packing pistols where the sun dont shine... So they were doing THE patdown, if you know what i mean.  So seeing as how my buddy bought me the ticket, I felt like I owed it to him to try to get in.  So eventually, after a long argument and some vulgarity, I end up being thrown to the side of the curb by 3 big dudes and my chances of getting in zero.  Moral of the story for me:  If i cant affford to go on my own funds, then I wont go, no matter what.

[Swampy]

Maybe if you just wanted to donate some CDRs or DATs, or even money to this site people might be more receptive to that... I donno, its grey anytime money and legal taping are involved, you dont want to upset bands at all, so its usally best not to involve the two...

[Ray76]

I concur with everyone else here. intent good, but would turn ugly perhaps.. You sure as heck came to the right place for info though. This is a mecca of info.
Ray

Good luck, BTW

[Tall Adam]

I think it's a cool notion -maybe it's better to think about it as buying you a drink as a "cheers"

i wont go on about why we shouldnt get money, but if you encourage people to go up to tapers and (quietly) offer to buy us a drink, THAT im sure no one would mind.

[Chanher]

EDIT: posted in the wrong thread

[DAT grl]

i wont go on about why we shouldnt get money, but if you encourage people to go up to tapers and (quietly) offer to buy us a drink, THAT im sure no one would mind.

QFT.  I've made friends with other fans purely from meeting them at shows I've taped.  More valuable to me than money have been the favors they extend me in the form of saving me a spot in line or a prime place in the sweet spot when I've been late to a show.  They do blocker duty and sometimes help me get gear in and out.  In our circle we spread the good karma by buying food, drinks or cover charge for tapers once we're all inside and usually as an unexpected spontanteous gratuity, not a prearranged deal.  We've also had offers of exchange of services.  We've had web developers offer their services on website maintenance and design, and graphic designers have done really nice cover art for shows we've taped.  If you get to know a taper from the shows, find out if they could avail themselves of something you're good at, just like they're good at taping.  I know I appreciate those expressions of gratitude, even when I can't use the offers - sounds like your intentions are good.

[rvman]

Thanks for all the responses - great input as always -

I wanted to make a couple things clear in reading some of the responses about what we were thinking -

- This would be totally optional for the taper and the leecher - niether side has to participate

- It would be a voluntary contribution only after the show is taped & seeded & again purely optional on both sides, not paying someone to tape for you

**Ultimately, we're trying to figure out the best way to do tapers a solid and encourage more tapers to seed online - any thoughts?**