A solution to bootlegging from The Boss

Bruce Springsteen is one of the most bootlegged musicians in history.

On the eve of his South African and Australian tour Bruce has put forward an idea to help combat bootlegging and give fans greater access to his music.

There will always be fans who are more interested in just living in the moment at a concert and enjoying the music than bootlegging even for personal use in the future.

It will be interesting to read about the results of this experiment and whether fans prefer a professionally filmed concert or a bootlegged one. I know I would.
   
Springsteen to give online access to his gigs by Bernard Zuel in the Sydney Morning Herald published on the 20 January 2014. (no copyright infringement intended).

One of the most bootlegged artists of all time, Bruce Springsteen is giving fans the chance to get an instant live recording of his concerts.

Springsteen, who begins his Australian tour in February, has flagged the possibility of people being able to buy USB wristbands which will give them access firstly to the concert and then, 48 hours after the show, a download of that concert they can keep. It may even be possible to skip the concert and just watch or listen at home a few days later.

The program will begin with three shows in Cape Town, South Africa, from January 26, the first time Springsteen has played in South Africa. It may extend into the Australian and New Zealand tour, which begins in Perth on February 5 and ends in Auckland on March 2.

The offer was revealed by Springsteen in an interview with the American National Public Radio network where he explained that he wanted to use the web for greater interaction with his fans.

"I'd like to make things more available through the Internet," he said. "As a matter of fact, I believe on this tour, we're starting to do something like you can come in, you can buy a band, you can get a copy of the night's show. So hopefully we're gonna do that at a really nice quality level."

Springsteen even seemed to give his approval to some kind of bootlegging, adding in the interview that not only did he think "the Internet has become our friend" but that "I think we live more in a [live favourites with a laissez faire attitude to fan recordings] Grateful Dead touring idea, that everything you do is recorded now. And that's OK with me, you know."

Springsteen's new album, High Hopes, which includes several tracks that have only been available to fans until now on unofficial bootleg recordings, was released in Australia on Friday.

While it was too late for this week's ARIA albums chart it has already debuted at number one in Britain, the 10th time he has had a British number one album.