A Rant about Bootleggers

You're probably thinking that I'm about to go on a cliche rant about how bootleggers supposedly cost the live theater industry x-amount of money each year. No, instead of a delusion induced rant about any alleged loss in revenue, I'm going to talk about the REAL reasons why the bootlegging community as a whole sucks. Before I begin this rant, I want to point out that I don't condone or engage in any illegal activities, unlawful recordings, cyber piracy, general rule breaking, or anything of that sort of nature. In case you're wondering how I know all this, it's because I frequent theater related Tumblr sites, which caught my interest by hosting rare photographs of original cast photos. Other information comes from a friend.

On the surface, the bootlegging community is just your average group of enthusiasts who trade illegally recorded content. Even to an outsider like myself, it's apparently a give-and-take sort of community. If someone has something you want and you don't have anything to trade for it, you're shit out of luck. There are people who sell these illegal "goods", but you're just asking for a lawsuit if you pay for something you know is a giant pile of copyright infringement.

"If you don't have something to trade, then how do you get something?" I once asked. I looked into it, and you have one of two options: either illegally record something yourself so you have new content (and hope that the person who has want you want is interested) or hope someone gives you a "gift". I have a friend who's in this community, and according to him these "gifts" usually consist of shit that's been circulated about a hundred times already, therefore completely useless.

The last two paragraphs are what happen when you get lucky. Sometimes things are listed for "limited trade" (which I assume means can only be traded within a certain time limit) or "Not For Trade". This is where this community gets even more ridiculous. Most of the time this "limited trade", "not for trade", and "do not post publicly" nonsense comes from the person who made these recordings themselves, and people obey them out of "respect" and fear that they'll stop putting themselves in danger by ceasing to record anything else. Ok, so we're not supposed to listen to the announcer at the beginning of the show warning us not to make any illegal recordings of the performance, but we're supposed to give in to demands made by some greedy asshole who wants to sit on potentially historic recordings. Sure, ok. Then again, all this is better than the people who have historic recordings but refuse to do anything with them, allowing them to rot. There are actual semi-private libraries, archives, and museums (or so I've heard) that have many performances of shows archived, but only allow you to see them if you're studying art or some shit.

Which leads me to another problem. I have an interest in lost media, and historic recordings of shows exist in private collections. Instead of releasing these historic recordings so everyone can see a show that opened long before even their parents were born, these people would rather hold them ransom and risk the recordings turning into dust. In my opinion, ANYONE who has a piece of lost media be it a bootleg recording, a lost movie, or a video game prototype, should publicly release it.

There is this one dude named Brady who has spent the last 9 years searching for an audio of Martin Smith in the title role as The Phantom of the Opera. He not only opened a memorial site for the actor, but also managed to track down most of his cast members in hopes that they would have something. He also did a few, shall we say, "questionable" things down the line like calling someone who thought they had a copy a liar, and making a video in which he "comically" ranted about how he "deserved" to find it which he deleted after being called out for it. He also has said that the search has effected his mental illnesses. Brady's search has even became a bit of an in-joke on our Discord server.

I can't show too much sympathy for the I-want-free-shit side of the community, either. There was this one girl on Tumblr who used to be kind enough to share audios freely, but she stopped doing that when people became greedy and demanding of her. I say good on her for telling them to fuck off. The greed doesn't stop there, either. Depending on how rare a recording is, a person may be expected to trade multiple things at once just to be given one "rare" thing in return.

From what I've been told, what makes this whole thing even more shitty, is that these recordings are usually hosted on gray-area file sharing websites that may or may not result in you getting a computer virus, or arrested. Viruses, lawsuits, and arrest aren't the only thing you're risking. Every time you trade for a video, you're gambling rather or not if you can actually see the performance, or if an audience member's head obstructs the camera. I guess you get what you pay for. There's also a chance it's mislabeled, has the wrong actors, deteriorated/washed out due to age, just highlights, or is generally a shitty video.

Despite everything I mentioned, the people in the community aren't all bad. In fact, a lot of them are nice enough to post their illegally recorded goods on YouTube for the world to see, and, form what I've seen, they are generally friendly individuals.

Despite being a community made up of a few loud, toxic assholes (like most communities), bootleggers are often blamed for the decline in live theater revenue. Even though, like I said, I don't condone what they do (or morally condemn it, for that matter), they aren't directly responsible for why live theater is no longer as profitable as it once was. In fact, I doubt anyone's ever said "Nah, instead of seeing this thing live I'm going to download a poorly recorded video with heads obstructing the stage, instead!".

First and foremost, seeing a show on Broadway has become very expensive. It could easily cost two people $1500 (no, I did not accidentally add an extra zero) to attend a single performance. People who don't know rather or not a show is worth seeing are not likely to gamble that sort of money. The convenience and low cost of motion pictures, televisions (which cost less than a seat at a live theater), home video, and streaming services have given people seeking entertainment a risk-free and economic alternative.

The high price of theater seats are justifiable, however. It costs a theater and/or producer thousands of dollars to run each performance. In fact, one of the reasons the musical adaptation of Sunset Boulevard closed in London was because it cost too much to keep going.

In my opinion, the best way to combat bootlegging is by releasing shows on DVD. Cats, Sweeney Todd, and even Hamilton have been released on DVD, and their success hasn't been hindered by it. I am, of course, talking about videos of actual productions, not shitty anniversary concerts. Region has a lot to do with it. Some people live too far away from where a show they would be interested in seeing, and in best case scenario, have to wait for a touring production to come close enough. Some people cannot afford to either travel far, or see it when it comes to their state. In addition to that, a DVD/Blu-Ray release can keep a show profitable long after it closes.

Even all that aside, live theater productions are mostly not worth seeing. Unless you're planning to see The Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, Les Miserables (which unfortunately only exists now in the form of that hideous 25th Anniversary Tour redesign), a revival of a show that has achieved classic status, or if you're a Disney fan who is willing to watch a pointless stage adaptation of one of their flicks, there isn't really anything worth seeing.

I guess we should consider ourselves lucky that cast recordings are still a thing. And by the way, cast recording is the correct term, don't be a cringelord and call them "soundtracks".

Update: I wish to make a note of something I noticed on the trading sites I reviewed to write this pointless rant. If you go on the main pages of them, you'll see a disclaimer saying that you're not allowed to do anything to them if you're law enforcement. Obviously, this is a load of bullshit and if any law enforcement does go to their site, they will certainly be able to prosecute the owner.