A great photo or video clip can capture a special moment, but it might be at the expense of the audience members around you. Should you be able to record and photograph at concerts and other live events?
Two years ago I went to see the legendary Prince perform at Camden’s Roundhouse. The superstar’s band, 3RDEYEGIRL, urged the attentive crowd to watch with our eyes and not with our iPhones – a gentle reminder that Prince didn’t appreciate his audience recording his performance.
I was very much appreciative of Prince’s rule. The gentle sway of arms holding Zippo lighters has increasingly been replaced by the lights of smartphones, all set to recording, Periscoping, Snapchatting or whatever else the socially able youth do these days.
Recording live performances
And it’s clearly a problem that Apple sees profit in tackling. Last week Apple secured the patent to block iPhone cameras from recording at live events. The patented technology will use an infrared beam to prevent photography and videoing on iPhones.
As someone who really does find serial gig recorders quite irritating, I’d be glad to see this technology in action. In my personal opinion, if you’ve spent the money on buying a ticket to see a live performance, you should really be observing it yourself and not via a camera lens.
Fun without your phone
Going back to Prince and 3RDEYEGIRL, there I was boogieing my way through ‘Raspberry beret’, ‘Little red corvette’, ‘Kiss’, ‘Let’s go crazy’ and many more legendary tunes for the near two-hour set, and you know what? I managed it without even the slightest inclination to take a photo, record a video or post anything on my Facebook profile.
But others just couldn’t resist the temptation, and I bet they wish they did soon after. Those who did disobey Prince’s request were sternly reminded ‘No photos, no videos’, followed by an extremely powerful torch repeatedly flashed at the camera lens, presumably so that taking a photo or video was impossible. The offenders were then swiftly uprooted from the crowd and dragged out of the venue. Really it wasn’t worth the risk.
What’s more, as someone who invariably ends up with the tallest person on the planet in front of me, I do struggle to see what’s going on in any case. The problem only compounds itself when someone whips out a phone to start snapping away. So I’m anticipating this Apple feature and hope other tech can soon follow suit for the benefit of both the audience and the performers.
Over to you
So would you, like me, welcome this technology for use at live events, or do you think the audience has a right to record?
Should people be allowed to record live performances on their phone?
No - they should enjoy the performance in person (51%, 813 Votes)
Maybe - just a short video or photo is fine (31%, 499 Votes)
Yes - they should be able to capture memories (18%, 290 Votes)
Total Voters: 1,602
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