Minutes after a concert ends, fans download the soundtrack from the web

Minutes after the band Southern Culture on the Skids performed at Maxwell’s club in Hoboken, NJ, fans were able to download the concert’s soundtrack from a web-based kiosk provided by digital music service eMusic.com Inc.

EMusic, whose usual business is selling downloads of digital music from its web site, launched a new service with the Southern Culture on the Skids concert June 28. "Offering fans the option to purchase live recordings in an MP3 format is the next step in immediate live recording technology, catering to the changing demands of the music consumer," says Danny Stein, CEO of Dimensional Associates Inc., the private equity firm that owns eMusic.

Consumers swipe a credit card at the kiosk to pay $10 for downloading the entire concert, which takes about 30 seconds to download to a USB 2.0 pen drive, a device small enough to fit on a key chain, eMusic says. Fans who don’t have a pen drive can purchase one at the kiosk for $20.

EMusic plans to build an eMusicLive network of web-based kiosks at additional music clubs and concert halls over the next several months, it says.

The concept should do well with fans, if the wall-mounted kiosk’s performance at the Maxwell’s club in Hoboken is any indication, says Todd Abramson, the club’s co-owner. "eMusic`s digital download kiosk has garnered a level of interest from live music fans that I haven`t witnessed before,” he says. “People ask about the kiosk independent of the bands that participate. The kiosk is its own attraction."