Streams and the Band's Intellectual Property
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The streamer who ran the stream last night reached out to me this morning and apologized for doing it. He didn't realize he wasn't supposed to and he said he feels awful. I'm sure that he was just trying to give us what we want and be a hero. I definitely don't see him as a villain as it seems like it was an honest mistake.
We, as a community, need to make sure that we support the band's wishes and that it's not just on the streamers/tapers to 'follow the rules.' We want to make sure the band continues to keep an open and generous policy with their intellectual property, otherwise we'll be squashed down to nugs only releases when the band has time to put them out.
I see this as similar to the 'war on drugs' issue. Our government tries to solve this problem by making drugs illegal, but the fact that there's demand means people will pop up to provide supply. We'll never 'solve' the drug problem until the demand curves are changed.
We as the Spafford community have an opportunity to control the demand for forbidden streams. We can choose not to listen to them when, and if, this happens again. MANY (most?, all?) of you did exactly that. If we do, then we can help to avoid a situation where the band bans streaming. They'll know that we, as their fans, hold a deep respect for their wishes and their intellectual property, and the honest mistake of a single person won't jeopardize an amazing gift that they allow.
This community is truly unique. We've got a band that's accessible, we've got streamers and tapers that are generous with their time and data plans, and we've got fans that are passionate, kind, and welcoming. When I set out to build this site, this is what I dreamed it would be. Thank you all for making this place a special place for me. I'm really proud of us.
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I'm just curious as to why the Saturday night show was specifically designated as a no streaming event? I've been under the impression the band had fully endorsed fans live streaming shows since it's a proven successful formula for building a rabid fanbase. Can you shed some light on this?
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@SweetDevo2 It was a VIP show, so I assume they wanted to make it an exclusive event for those of us who paid to go.
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They wanted to make something truly special for the custiest of custies, and we custied right up to the custy stand and plopped down our custy cash for the custiest ticket in town, so everyone else had to wait.
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Yup. That's my guess.
@SweetDevo2 I totally understand that you're asking from a curiosity perspective, and I respect that.
Beyond curiosity though, why does it matter what their reason was? This music is their property. They are content creators and they own their output. They get to choose what they do with it. If they say, "no streams" then no streams. If we violate that then the rule will no doubt be expanded beyond the few shows where that becomes a necessity.
As anybody who went to this show will tell you these guys are regular dudes. They're working musicians. They're people. We need to make sure that we show them the respect and appreciation that they deserve. We do that by buying tickets, spreading the word about them, paying for soundboards and merch, and most of all doing what they ask of us. Especially when we know that 3 hours after the show ends our amazing taper community, which was permitted to record, will bless us with the gift of the recordings.
It's really a simple thing. If a band you love asks you not to do something... Don't do it.
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They asked for no streaming for the BD after party because MK Devo was filming the whole show.
It seems like the only times they ask not to stream are for good reasons. We should most definitely be respecting that.
