Editing Bootleg recording (section)

==History==

===Pre-1960s===
According to the enthusiast and author [[Clinton Heylin]], the concept of a bootleg record can be traced back to the days of [[William Shakespeare]], when unofficial transcripts of his plays would be published.{{sfn|Heylin|1994|p=17}} At that time, society was not particularly interested in who had authored a work. The "cult of authorship" was established in the 19th century, resulting in the first [[Berne Convention]] in 1886 to cover copyright. The US did not agree to the original terms, resulting in many "piratical reprints" of sheet music being published there by the end of the century.{{sfn|Heylin|1994|pp=20–21}}

[[Film soundtrack]]s were often bootlegged. If the officially released soundtrack had been re-recorded with a house orchestra, there would be demand for the original audio recording taken directly from the film. One example was a bootleg of [[Judy Garland]] performing ''[[Annie Get Your Gun (film)|Annie Get Your Gun]]'' (1950), before [[Betty Hutton]] replaced her early in production, but after a full soundtrack had been recorded.{{sfn|Heylin|1994|p=37}} The [[Recording Industry Association of America]] objected to unauthorised releases and attempted several raids on production.{{sfn|Heylin|1994|p=31}} The Wagern-Nichols Home Recordist Guild recorded numerous performances at the [[Metropolitan Opera House (39th St)|Metropolitan Opera House]], and openly sold them without paying royalties to the writers and performers. The company was sued by the [[American Broadcasting Company]] and [[Columbia Records]] (whom at the time held the official rights to recordings made at the opera house), who obtained a court injunction against producing the record.{{sfn|Heylin|1994|p=32}}

Saxophone player and [[Charlie Parker]] fan [[Dean Benedetti]] famously bootlegged several hours of solos by Parker at live clubs in 1947 and 1948 via tape and disc recordings. Benedetti stored the recordings and they were only rediscovered in 1988, over thirty years after Benedetti had died, by which time they had become a "jazz myth." Most of these recordings were later released officially on [[Mosaic Records]] in the 1990s.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Watrous |first=Peter |date=1990-12-23 |title=POP VIEW; The Legendary, Lost Recordings Of Charlie Parker |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/23/arts/pop-view-the-legendary-lost-recordings-of-charlie-parker.html |access-date=2024-05-22 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

===1960s===
[[File:Kum Back.jpg|thumb|left|''[[Kum Back]]'', a collection of recordings by [[the Beatles]] in early 1969, appeared before the official release of ''[[Let It Be (album)|Let It Be]]''.]]

The first popular rock music bootleg resulted from [[Bob Dylan]]'s activities between largely disappearing from the public eye after his motorcycle accident in 1966, and the release of ''[[John Wesley Harding]]'' at the end of 1967. After a number of artists had hits with Dylan songs that he had not officially released himself, demand increased for Dylan's original recordings, particularly when they started airing on local radio in [[Los Angeles]]. Through various contacts in the radio industry, a number of pioneering bootleggers managed to buy a [[reel-to-reel tape]] containing a selection of unreleased Dylan songs intended for distribution to music publishers and wondered if it would be possible to manufacture them on an LP. They managed to convince a local pressing plant to press between 1,000 and 2,000 copies discreetly, paying in cash and avoiding using real names or addresses. Since the bootleggers could not commercially print a sleeve, due to it attracting too much attention from recording companies, the LP was issued in a plain white cover with ''Great White Wonder'' rubber stamped on it.{{sfn|Heylin|1994|p=45}} Subsequently, Dylan became one of the most popular artists to be bootlegged with [[Bob Dylan bootleg recordings|numerous releases]].{{sfn|Heylin|1994|p=394}}

[[File:The Rolling Stones - Live'r Than You'll Ever Be original.jpg|thumb|[[The Rolling Stones]]' ''[[Live'r Than You'll Ever Be]]'', released in late 1969, received a rave review in ''[[Rolling Stone]]'']]
When the Rolling Stones announced their [[The Rolling Stones American Tour 1969|1969 American tour]], their first in the U.S. for several years, an enterprising bootlegger known as "Dub" decided to record some of the shows. He purchased a [[Sennheiser]] 805 [["shotgun" microphone]] and a [[Uher (brand)|Uher]] 4000 reel to reel [[tape recorder]] specifically for recording the performances, smuggling them into the venues.{{sfn|Heylin|1994|p=60}} The resulting bootleg, ''Live'r Than You'll Ever Be'', was released shortly before Christmas 1969, mere weeks after the tour had finished, and in January 1970 received a rave review in ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', who described the sound quality as "superb, full of presence, picking up drums, bass, both guitars and the vocals beautifully&nbsp;... it is the ultimate Rolling Stones album".{{sfn|Heylin|1994|p=61}} The bootleg sold several tens of thousands of copies, orders of magnitude more than a typical classical or opera bootleg,{{sfn|Heylin|1994|p=65}} and its success resulted in the official release of the live album ''[[Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert|Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!]]'' later in the year. "Dub" was one of the founders of the [[Trade Mark of Quality]] (TMOQ or TMQ) bootleg record label.{{sfn|Heylin|1994|p=66}}
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===1970s===
During the 1970s the bootleg industry in the United States expanded rapidly, coinciding with the era of stadium rock or [[arena rock]]. Vast numbers of recordings were issued for profit by bootleg labels such as [[Kornyfone]] and TMQ.{{sfn|Cummings|2013|p=102}} The large followings of rock artists created a lucrative market for the mass production of unofficial recordings on [[gramophone record|vinyl]], as it became evident that more and more fans were willing to purchase them.{{sfn|Cummings|2013|p=117}} In addition, the huge crowds which turned up to these concerts made the effective policing of the audience for the presence of covert recording equipment difficult. [[Led Zeppelin]] quickly became a popular target for bootleggers on the strength and frequency of their live concerts; ''[[Live on Blueberry Hill]]'', recorded at the [[LA Forum]] in 1970, was sufficiently successful to incur the wrath of manager [[Peter Grant (music manager)|Peter Grant]].{{sfn|Heylin|1994|pp=69–70}} [[Bruce Springsteen]] and the [[E Street Band]] recorded numerous concerts for radio broadcast in the 1970s, which resulted in many Springsteen bootlegs.{{sfn|Heylin|1994|pp=116–117}}

[[File:Dark side of the moo.jpg|thumb|left|270px|The [[Pink Floyd]] bootleg ''[[The Dark Side of the Moo]]'' collected early singles and B-sides. When released, it was the only way to hear the studio version of "[[Astronomy Domine]]" in the U.S., as it was not included on the U.S. issue of ''[[The Piper at the Gates of Dawn]]'']]
Some bootleggers noticed rock fans that had grown up with the music in the 1960s wanted rare or unreleased recordings of bands that had split up and looked unlikely to reform. For instance, the release of ''[[Golden Eggs]]'', a bootleg of outtakes by [[the Yardbirds]] had proven to be so popular that the bootlegger had managed to interview the band's [[Keith Relf]] for the sequel, ''[[More Golden Eggs]]''.{{sfn|Heylin|1994|p=98}} Archive live performances became popular; a 1970 release of Dylan's set with the Hawks (later to become [[the Band]]) at the [[Manchester Free Trade Hall]] in 1966 (incorrectly assumed to be the [[Royal Albert Hall]] for years) was critically and commercially successful owing to the good sound quality and the concert's historical importance.{{sfn|Heylin|1994|pp=73–74,76}}

In [[Los Angeles]] there were a number of record mastering and pressing plants that were not "first in line" to press records for the major labels, usually only getting work when the larger plants were overloaded. These pressing plants were more than happy to generate income by pressing bootlegs of dubious legality.{{sfn|Heylin|1994|p=63}} Sometimes they simply hid the bootleg work when record company executives would come around (in which case the printed label could show the artist and song names) and other times secrecy required labels with fictitious names. For example, a 1974 Pink Floyd bootleg called ''Brain Damage'' was released under the name the Screaming Abadabs, which was one of the band's early names.<ref name="Backtrax">{{cite web|url=http://backtrax-records.co.uk/floydboots/pages/history.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070203141848/http://backtrax-records.co.uk/floydboots/pages/history.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 February 2007 |title=A Brief History Of Bootlegs |access-date=23 September 2009 |last=Slugbelch |work=The Pink Floyd Vinyl Bootleg Guide |publisher=Backtrax Records }}</ref> Because of their ability to get records and covers pressed unquestioned by these pressing plants, bootleggers were able to produce artwork and packaging that a commercial label would be unlikely to issue – perhaps most notoriously the 1962 recording of the Beatles at the [[Star-Club]] in Hamburg, which was bootlegged as ''[[The Beatles vs. the Third Reich]]'' (a parody of the early US album ''[[The Beatles vs. the Four Seasons]]''), or ''[[Elvis' Greatest Shit]]'', a collection of the least successful of [[Elvis Presley]]'s recordings, mostly from film soundtracks.{{sfn|Heylin|1994|p=188}}

Bootleg collectors in this era generally relied on ''[[Hot Wacks]]'', an annual underground magazine listing known bootlegs and information about recent releases. It provided the true information on bootlegs with fictitious labels, and included details on artists and track listings, as well as the source and sound quality of the various recordings.{{sfn|Heylin|1994|p=130–131}}{{sfn|Shuker|2013|p=105}}

Initially, knowledge of bootlegs and where to purchase them spread by word of mouth.{{sfn|Cummings|2013|p=174}} The pioneering bootlegger Rubber Dubber sent copies of his bootleg recordings of live performances to magazines such as ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' in an attempt to get them reviewed. When Dylan's record company, [[Columbia Records]] objected, Rubber Dubber counteracted he was simply putting fans in touch with the music without the intermediary of a record company.{{sfn|Cummings|2013|p=103}} Throughout the 1970s most bootleg records were of poor quality, with many of the album covers consisting of nothing more than cheap [[photocopying|photocopies]]. The packaging became more sophisticated towards the end of the decade and continued into the 1980s.<ref name="Galloway">{{cite web| url = http://www.moremusic.co.uk/links/features/bootleg.htm| title = Bootlegs, an insight into the shady side of music collecting| access-date = 23 September 2006| last = Galloway| first = Simon| year = 1999| publisher = More Music e-zine| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150710192719/http://www.moremusic.co.uk/links/features/bootleg.htm| archive-date = 10 July 2015| url-status = dead}}</ref> [[Punk rock]] saw a brief entry into the bootleg market in the 1970s, particularly the bootleg ''[[Spunk (album)|Spunk]]'', a series of outtakes by [[the Sex Pistols]]. It received a good review from ''[[Sounds (magazine)|Sounds]]''{{'}} Chas de Whalley, who said it was an album "no self-respecting rock fan would turn his nose up" at.{{sfn|Heylin|1994|p=170}}

===1980s===
[[File:Prince Brussels 1986.jpg|thumb|The ''[[The Black Album (Prince album)|Black Album]]'' by [[Prince (musician)|Prince]] was withdrawn from sale shortly before its official release date in December 1987, becoming a popular bootleg.]]
The 1980s saw the increased use of audio cassettes and [[videotape]]s for the dissemination of bootleg recordings, as the affordability of private [[dubbing (transferring)|dubbing]] equipment made the production of multiple copies significantly easier.{{sfn|Cummings|2013|p=79}} Cassettes were also smaller, easier to ship, and could be sold or traded more affordably than vinyl. [[Cassette culture]] and [[tape trading]], propelled by the [[DIY ethic]] of the [[punk subculture]], relied on an [[honor system]] where people who received tapes from fellow traders made multiple copies to pass on to others within the community.{{sfn|Heylin|1994|pp=123–4}} For a while, stalls at major music gatherings such as the [[Glastonbury Festival]] sold mass copies of bootleg soundboard recordings of bands who, in many cases, had played only a matter of hours beforehand. However, officials soon began to counteract this illegal activity by making raids on the stalls and, by the end of the 1980s, the number of festival bootlegs had consequently dwindled.{{sfn|Heylin|2010|p=428}}<ref name="Galloway" />

One of the most critically acclaimed bootlegs from the 1980s is ''[[The Black Album (Prince)|The Black Album]]'' by [[Prince (musician)|Prince]]. The album was to have been a conventional major-label release in late 1987, but on 1 December, immediately before release, Prince decided to pull the album, requiring 500,000 copies to be destroyed.<ref>{{cite book|title=Icons of R&B and Soul: Smokey Robinson and the Miracles; The Temptations; The Supremes; Stevie Wonder|first=Bob|last=Gulla|page=494|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2008|isbn=978-0-313-34046-8}}</ref> A few advance copies had already shipped, which were used to create bootlegs. This eventually led to the album's official release.{{sfn|Cummings|2013|p=163}} Towards the end of the 1980s, the ''[[Ultra Rare Trax]]'' series of bootlegs, featuring studio outtakes of the Beatles, showed that [[digital remastering]] onto [[compact disc]] could produce a high-quality product that was comparable with official studio releases.{{sfn|Heylin|1994|pp=282–3}}

===1990s–present===
Following the success of ''Ultra Rare Trax'', the 1990s saw an increased production of bootleg CDs, including reissues of shows that had been recorded decades previously. In particular, companies in Germany and Italy exploited the more relaxed copyright laws in those countries by pressing large numbers of CDs and including catalogs of other titles on the inlays, making it easier for fans to find and order shows direct.<ref name="Galloway" />{{sfn|Heylin|2010|p=369}} Similarly, relaxed copyright laws in Australia meant that the most serious legal challenge to unauthorised releases were made on the grounds of trademark law by [[Sony Music Entertainment]] in 1993. Court findings were in favour of allowing the release of unauthorised recordings clearly marked as "unauthorised". The updated [[General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade|GATT 1994]] agreement soon closed this so-called "protection gap" in all three aforementioned countries effective 1 January 1995.{{sfn|Heylin|2010|p=279}}

By this time, access to the Internet was increasing, and bootleg review sites began to appear. The quality control of bootlegs began to be scrutinised, as a negative review of one could adversely harm sales.{{sfn|Heylin|2010|p=458}} Bootlegs began to increase in size, with multi-CD packages being common. In 1999, a 4-CD set was released containing three and a half hours of recording sessions for the [[Beach Boys]]' "[[Good Vibrations]]", spanning seven months.{{sfn|Heylin|2010|p=462}}

The tightening of laws and increased enforcement by police on behalf of the [[British Phonographic Industry]] (BPI), [[Recording Industry Association of America]] (RIAA) and other industry groups—often for peripheral issues such as [[tax evasion]]—gradually drove the distributors of for-profit vinyl and CD bootlegs further underground.<ref name="Galloway" /> Physical bootlegging largely shifted to countries with laxer copyright laws, with the results distributed through existing underground channels, open-market sites such as [[eBay]], and other specialised websites. By the end of the decade, eBay had forbidden bootlegs.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0BAEAAAAMBAJ&q=ebay+bootlegs&pg=PA115|title=half.com, buy.com Team on Latest Used Goods Sites|magazine=Billboard|date=18 November 2000|page=115|access-date=20 December 2015}}</ref>

The late 1990s saw an increase in the free trading of digital bootlegs, sharply decreasing the demand for and profitability of physical bootlegs. The rise of [[audio file format]]s such as [[MP3]] and [[Real Audio]], combined with the ability to share files between computers via the internet, made it simpler for collectors to exchange bootlegs. The arrival of [[Napster]] in 1999 made it easy to share bootlegs over a large computer network.{{sfn|Heylin|2010|p=476}} Older analog recordings were converted to digital format, tracks from bootleg CDs were [[ripping|ripped]] to computer hard disks, and new material was created with [[digital recording]] of various types; all of these types could now be easily shared. Instead of album-length collections or live recordings of entire shows, fans often now had the option of searching for and downloading bootlegs of songs.<ref>Jordan, Keith. "[http://www.neptunepinkfloyd.co.uk/magazine/2006/11/internet-bootlegs.php T'Internet – A Bootleg Fan's Paradise] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070116040411/http://www.neptunepinkfloyd.co.uk/magazine/2006/11/internet-bootlegs.php |date=16 January 2007 }}" – The Past, Present and Future of Bootlegs considering the internet. ''NPF Magazine''. November 2006.</ref> Artists had a mixed reaction to online bootleg sharing; Bob Dylan allowed fans to download archive recordings from his official website, while [[King Crimson]]'s [[Robert Fripp]] and [[Metallica]] were strongly critical of the ease with which Napster circumvented traditional channels of royalty payments.{{sfn|Heylin|2010|pp=478–9}}

The video sharing website YouTube became a major carrier of bootleg recordings. YouTube's owner, Google, believes that under the "safe-harbor" provision of the [[Digital Millennium Copyright Act]] (DMCA), it cannot be held responsible for content, allowing bootleg media to be hosted on it without fear of a lawsuit. As the technology to host videos is open and available, shutting down YouTube may simply mean the content migrates elsewhere.{{sfn|Hilderbrand|2009|p=242}} An audience recording of one of [[David Bowie]]'s last concerts before he retired from touring in 2004 was uploaded to YouTube and received a positive review in ''Rolling Stone''.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/bootleg-of-the-week-david-bowie-live-in-atlantic-city-5-29-04-20151204|title=Bootleg of the Week: David Bowie Live in Atlantic City 5/29/04|first=Andy|last=Greene|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=4 December 2015|access-date=21 December 2015}}</ref> [[Bilal (American singer)|Bilal]]'s unreleased second album, ''[[Love for Sale (Bilal album)|Love for Sale]]'', leaked in 2006 and became one of the most infamously bootlegged recordings during the digital piracy era,<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Larrier|first=Travis|date=4 March 2013|url=https://theshadowleague.com/bilal-is-the-future-and-the-present-and-the-past/?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=c2ffa10bef1f424fb252543ee09315d038103bd2-1595252623-0-AQaQvFZEknRWDZtLz_-KpHpRYNhNqscHTfCHp6Tr8hduX5gs6uyAaQfef1hB3snODkYFwgSlXH9pQZS_OgmovWZg1dxWOfdv6KYaotwCiVhAfOA1NooyRIZBbQ7AuwrnezemOt0aOvC5JqXaUG-ixf6x0eEfcLz6_aB4mZaVUtX5eXwwFSBkfNJmBxG6In4wWiDOMJXhVyzdm_YyrRyUJNYEEsTZ9jXVjo4xZCyDtxOzub5oRn9F3uGLl4IYob_-oI06lSh6NUnbSSYC8SejeXAaDrJ45SThoPXWHhy2_qU8bC0XPFFKmGzELGJ4Di6R6VT6lqtMNIwnKTLQL7_EXDk|title=Bilal Is the Future (And the Present ... And the Past)|magazine=The Shadow League|access-date=20 July 2020}}</ref> with its songs since remaining on YouTube.<ref>{{cite web|last=Hull|first=Tom|author-link=Tom Hull (critic)|date=31 August 2020|url=http://tomhull.com/ocston/blog/archives/2879-Music-Week.html|title=Music Week|website=Tom Hull – on the Web|access-date=2 September 2020}}</ref> [[Lana Del Rey]]'s 2006 demo album ''[[Sirens (May Jailer album)|Sirens]]'' leaked on YouTube in 2012.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lana Del Rey's first album 'Sirens' leaks – The Strut |url=http://www.thestrut.com/2012/05/31/lana-del-reys-first-album-sirens-leaks/ |access-date=11 August 2022 |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2010, YouTube removed a 15-minute limit on videos, allowing entire concerts to be uploaded.<ref name=knopper>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/top-artists-adjust-to-new-world-of-youtube-bootlegs-20121217|title=Top Artists Adjust to New World of YouTube Bootlegs|first=Steve|last=Knopper|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=17 December 2012|access-date=23 December 2015}}</ref>