Look with your eyes, not with your iPhone

Each one IS a ‘one off’.
And yes, you are paying a premium to watch it!
So why, having paid that premium, would you want to NOT watch it?
i.e. by fiddling with your phone throughout the performance.
And why would you want to interfere with the enjoyment of others (mostly behind you) who have also paid a premium to watch the performance?
Especially when the result is likely to be a really not very good video, with lots of backs of people’s heads, and pretty poor sound quality!
What are you going to do with this recording? Are you seriously going to watch it again?

There are similarities in buying a CD.
Doing so gives you the right to play the disc in a ‘private environment’.
But it does NOT give you the right to play it ‘in public’, nor to make copies of it.
Likewise, buying a ticket for a concert entitles you to watch & listen. But NOT to make recordings.
Many people infringe the ‘copyright’ rules, but it is actually illegal.
Money? Yes, money is relevant here. Money that the artist deserves to receive for their creative work.
If you buy a CD and copy it for all your friends, you are depriving the artist of their due income.
Ahhh … but why should they get paid for it? Especially when they seem to be having so much fun, AND getting paid!?
Would you work for free? Would you even be able to work for free?
How would you eat, pay rent, travel? Or buy musical instruments, pay for studio time etc.?

Ultimately, a performance is and should be special.
A special fleeting moment in your life, here to enjoy as it is in the present.
You don’t need to record everything, and keep copies forever of every concert you go to.
It’s pointless. It’s a waste of time.
And, most of all, it’s annoying to other people who DO want to experience LIVE music.
Not a recording … actual, real LIVE music.

Where there are large gatherings of people it is imperative to have a degree of regulation to protect both the public and the entertainers. For example at Wimbledon all still photographs, film, video tape and other audio-visual material recorded within the Grounds may not be sold or used commercially in any way whatsoever, unless authorised by the AELTC and may be confiscated if such sale or commercial use is suspected.

Flash photography, for obvious reasons is a definite no no at Wimbledon, and spectators are advised that the use of flash photography from the stands is strictly forbidden. At other large events there are people who suffer from epilepsy to be considered.

The Murray v Raonic final is imminent and someone has decided to operate a chain saw in the immediate vicinity!!!

In days gone by people went places and took photographs of the places they went to . Those were put into albums so that they and their children could see them , the parents to reminisce and the children to see their parents when they were young and look at the changes in fashion/ landscape etc. This has caught on big time with online “buy a photograph ” companies who pay for copyright on the photos and then deny future generations from viewing them unless they pay up . Not right in my eyes , thankfully many wont “sell out ” and photos of earlier times can still be seen free –but not concerts ???

I think the emergence of this technology does need thinking about beyond the etiquette of pop concerts. Thinking of recent events in America, what if it were routinely deployed by the police and security services to prevent the use of phone cameras during street protests or other incidents?

I laughed at Ian’s remark that this is not a problem at the ballet. Indeed, thankfully, most live opera and drama productions and classical music concerts are not affected by this craze during the actual performance. But it is increasingly annoying at art galleries and museums to have people pushing to the front to take a snap of a painting or exhibit and then they move swiftly on to the next; they often work in little groups all getting the same shot. Perhaps they study them in detail afterwards and wonder why they cannot get the impasto.