Volunteers turn a fan's recordings of 10K concerts into an online treasure trove

8 hours ago

Aadam Jacobs began recording concerts in 1984 and amassed over 10,000 live recordings over four decades using various equipment.
Volunteers are digitizing and uploading Jacobs' collection to the Internet Archive, making it a free resource for music fans, featuring early performances of bands like Nirvana, R.E.M., and others.
The collection includes diverse genres such as indie, punk, hip-hop, and obscure artists, with recordings cleaned up and made available for streaming and download.
Jacobs faced initial resistance from club owners but became a fixture in the music scene, often allowed to tape for free, and is seen as a cultural institution in Chicago.
Volunteers like Brian Emerick and Neil deMause handle digitization, audio cleanup, and metadata, with the project expected to take several more years to complete.
Copyright concerns are minimal as Jacobs and the archive are non-profit, with few artists requesting removal, and some, like The Replacements, have used his recordings officially.
Jacobs stopped recording due to health issues but appreciates that modern technology allows anyone to record concerts, continuing the tradition of live music documentation.

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