Over the weekend, I re-explored archive.org and their Live Music Archive for the first time in over a year. I was impressed with some of the changes they've incorporated through their integration with etree.org (a lossless live show repository I've been using since 2000). For example, you can now stream most live concerts that have been uploaded, or even embed them on your site. That's a great free widget for bands trying to build a following, as you can introduce potential new fans to your live music directly on your blog with ease. Here's an example of a show from Gomez:



Your fans can also sign-up to receive RSS alerts for newly added recordings of your live shows by other fans. Here's an example for Ween (located under their photo). It's also a great way to see what your fans think about your live shows, like Jack Johnson's recent performance at Bonnaroo (scroll down to the bottom of the page).

There has certainly been a great deal of discussion about free music and the potential benefits it has on generating new listeners and larger audience attendance. For some bands, it does seem to have a positive impact, for others, little to none. So my only suggestion to Archive is that they allow an option for bands to sell their downloads if they like. But until that happens, Maybe the Live Music Archive is where you allow your fans to freely exchange your live shows, but not your studio work or commercial recordings - there are scores of bands on Archive doing just that. Not to mention, most recordings are in high-quality lossless formats like SHN or FLAC, even 24-bit FLAC, and most bands have MP3 files as well, so this should suit everyone from the general music enthusiast to the audiophile. However, with any music repository, there are some potential licensing issues to consider, so you may want to seek guidance from an attorney first.

To get started allowing your fans to record and upload your live shows, just send archive.org an email. To learn how to upload music, go here, or if you have additional questions check out their FAQ.

Separately, from a consumer's perspective, there are literally thousands of live shows from hundreds of bands you can download. Chances are, one of your favorite artists has a show there for you to download.