FOR the music industry, 1996 on the Net was the year of the webcast. What was previously the preserve of the techno fraternity became commonplace. Everyone from DJs in small clubs to rock bands at monster tribal gatherings such as the Phoenix Festival wanted an audience beyond the one standing/sitting/slouching in front of them. In the past, that used to mean live TV or radio coverage. Now, nine out of 10 big events are likely to feature a live Internet link up for those who can't make it along in person but still want a slice of the action.
The web cast has come far from the early seminal Future Sound Of London session for BBC Radio tin December 1994. Now there's everything from the Smashing Pumpkins live from Chicago (via the Music site in Seattle) to the very recent Gaia innovation featuring The Shamen's Mr C, drum & bass DJ Peshay and others live once a month from a central London location. While some web casts are one off occurrences, most are archived and can be experienced again at a later date.
One of the leading companies in the area is AMX Digital. The multimedia concern was formed three years ago as part of Malcom Garrett's Assorted Images design consultancy (responsible for album sleeves in the past for the Buzzcocks, Culture Club and Duran Duran).
They have built up an impressive webcast CV in addition to their work on the official Web sites for Orbital, Pulp and Warner Music. Simon Scott, who has worked with the company on many of their webcasts to date, explains how they got involved.
"We run Orbital's official Web site on the Rise domain. They were doing an half hour show on [BBC] Radio 1 with a playback of two or three tracks and an interview, and they asked us could we broadcast it over the Net. We said we'd give it a go. It was a bloody nightmare!
The company's involvement in the area since then has grown and grown, with their biggest job to date being last summer's Phoenix Festival. "If we'd known what was really involved with Phoenix, we probably wouldn't have done it. Radio 1 had a huge set up to broadcast basically to an island. We were in a rundown portacabin with 25 people and a bunch of computers broadcasting to the world over six days. No one had done anything like it before. A lot of the work was dealing with the idiosyncrasies of the pop world, like late arrivals and things like that.
"We had to get permission from all the acts who were appearing. There were very few technophobes. Some were very clued in - the Sex Pistols manager, for example, wanted to know what versions of certain software we were using, he really knew what was going on - and others were like yeah, man, just
On a technical level, web casts involve the installation of an ISDN line in the venue to create a feed to the web caster's computers from which Net programming can be created.
"Technically, the most important thing for us is to liaise with the sound crew to make sure they know what we want. For us, web casting is about a perspective on what programming we can deliver.
"It's more than just live music. With Oasis at Loch Lomond last summer, for example, we could offer music, pictures and an interview with the band. It helps to build up an attractive package because webcasts are not just about how many people pick it up on the day. Oasis may have had 4,000 hits on the day, but over the following six weeks there were 10,000 people a day visiting the site."
Having seen at first hand how the medium has grown, Simon has several predictions on its future. "In five years' time, it will probably be an interactive equivalent of MTV. For example, you will be able to buy a season ticket to receive an Oasis tour of Japan and your ticket will entitle you to catch all six webcasts if they do six shows.
"You can take it that the software will be sorted out in due course and the necessary compression technology will have developed sufficiently to allow live video as well. All the software you require, from RealAudio to CUSeeMe will be bundled for ease of use."
He also thinks that users will have to pay in the future to receive webcasts. "The acts will almost definitely insist on people paying for it. At the moment we're having discussions with a leading agency to figure out what's got to be done regarding this and how to do it.
"Of course, there are some questions that will only be answered in time. Will bands do it themselves? Will the current almost anarchic situation prevail where anyone can have a go or will there be particular brands? Will people pay for it? Certainly, if it's an attractive package, people will be willing to pay for it. Webcasts are certainly going to continue and, if anything, get much better."