(CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Brian Becker, CEO of Clear Channel Entertainment, has issued the following statement concerning Instant Live:
We have invested substantial resources, time and effort over the past two years, including learning of and purchasing a fundamental patent, to realize our breakthrough Instant Live service. During that time, we have also conducted extensive beta testing to be sure that the quality of the service is outstanding.
As we've entered widespread use over the past two months, it's clear to us, to artists and to fans that Instant Live represents an enormous step forward for our industry and an important new option for artists and consumers.
Clear Channel Entertainment's commitment to artists is unparalleled, and we're proud of our track record. With Instant Live, we have created an extremely favorable situation for both established and emerging artists, including covering all costs:
** We have already issued licenses to six emerging bands and organizations
for an extremely small amount of money – far below market value – and
are in conversations with more;
** For established artists, we have created a revenue-sharing arrangement
under which the artists and songwriters get a larger share of the
revenues than Clear Channel Entertainment; and
** For both, we have secured unprecedented retail opportunities that
otherwise would not exist. Our partners at Newbury Comics ensure that
Instant Live recordings are available at both independent record stores
as well as major retail chains such as Tower Records, Virgin, and FYE –
For Your Entertainment.
We expect to enter into agreements with more than 40 acts to produce Instant Live recordings this season and already offer more than 100 recordings to fans.
We want the practice of live recordings being made available immediately after concerts to be in widespread use and welcome all legitimate and serious conversations with those interested in licensing our patent. But we will not conduct licensing conversations in public or via the media. Nor will we put artists in the middle of those business negotiations or try to hide behind them as we negotiate.
Clear Channel Entertainment also provided some music industry support for Instant Live from two managers who have acts in the Instant Live program:
"Instant Live created an opportunity for the Bomb Squad to make and distribute a professional live recording early in their development that would not otherwise have been available. Instant Live has continued to support and help the Bomb Squad well beyond the Instant Live date." — Allan Tepper, manager of the Bomb Squad,
American Music Award winner for Best Unsigned Act
"We were recording our shows and selling them on site on our own so when we found out about the patent, we were concerned. But Instant Live gave us the license and has accommodated us in every possible way. We've had a great experience." — Vince Iwinski, manager of Umphrey's McGee
Bob Grossweiner and Jane Cohen
