I've long been a big fan of the jam band, Phish. They were one of the first bands I saw in concert, and I credit them to this day as the band that got me into seeing live music. There isn't anything quite like seeing - or hearing - Phish live. And thankfully for me, Phish fans have become what I'm calling Pocket Broadcasters.
Phish fans have always been intrepid users of the internet to help other fans get access to live recordings for download. The band has always encouraged this, asking fans only to avoid trading audio for shows they release officially. This hasn't really held up, as the fact that Phish has started releasing all of their concerts hasn't dissuaded them. Tapers still trade and offer their downloads for free - but nobody really tries to put a stop to it, as far as I'm aware.
This year, Phish reunited after a five year split - and unsurprisingly, fans brought their new technology along with them when they returned to see the band live. And unsurprisingly, music fans are once again paving the way for the rest of us to use technology that already exists in unexpected ways.
This year, Phish fans tapped into smart phones to broadcast live video of concerts over the website USTREAM. Using iPhones primarily, users found ways to turn the still camera on the 3G iPhone to transmit live video and audio to USTREAM as it happened. Some users brought small tripods into the shows, while others simply held them aloft by hand. The video and audio quality weren't great - but for a community of fans used to listening to bootlegs recorded on cassette tapes, it is certainly passable. Imagine that - using USTREAM, I was able to watch Phish perform in St. Louis this summer, live, as it happened, with passable audio and video that enabled me to enjoy the show. All broadcast via a cell phone. Most importantly, this was all done organically from the community of Phish fans themselves, without express the permission from the band, the promoters, or the venues.
Fans used the Twitter hashtag #phish to let other fans know of the best streams available, informing one another of the best camera angles and sound quality. Fans discussed buying better equipment for the streamers so video quality would improve. They traded notes about the setlist in real time, as they watched the stream from all over the world. As the tour went on, more and more people began broadcasting. I expect you'll be able to watch Phish's Halloween Festival 8 on USTREAM this coming weekend. The most popular streamer is phishtube. Check it out if you have the time; you can also follow Festival discussions on Twitter with the hashtag #fest8 - both will likely have many recommendations on live streams.
Though I haven't watched recently, the iPhone 3GS has certainly improved video and audio quality for these streams. This expands a bit on Gillmor's discussion of mobile phones in We the Media. Not only can everybody have a camera in their pocket - but everybody can have a video camera that broadcasts live to the world. That's an extraordinarily powerful tool that could revolutionize news media.
Will USTREAM become the next YouTube? I don't know - but as mobile phones develop greater video capability, the quality of this streaming video will only increase. The application for politics and advocacy is clear - people will not only be able to take video and photos of everything you do, but they will be able to broadcast it out in real time. Candidates and campaigns can use this to their advantage - organizations could further online discussions about speeches or events by providing inexpensive streaming to people around the world. By coupling broadcasts with social media like Facebook or Twitter, this is remarkably simple - the Phish broadcasters simply embedded the Twitter feed in the video page alongside the stream. But easily broadcast video also has obvious pitfalls - it could also provide for "macaca moments," but occurring in real time.
Undoubtedly, however, this is technology in its most nascent phases. Phish fans and others like them are only seen the beginning of the pocket broadcasters.
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