November 04, 2009

By By Mitchell Peters, L.A.

Following test runs at several recent U.K. concerts, EMI Music has announced plans to officially launch Abbey Road Live, a new live music recording and instant production service.

Headquartered at Abbey Road Studios in London, Abbey Road Live will provide a service that enable concertgoers to purchase live recordings just minutes after a show they've just attended. The recordings will be available in a variety of formats, including CD, DVD, USB or through digital delivery.

Abbey Road Live will initially launch this week in North America and Europe, according to a news release from EMI. The new company expands on Live Here Now, which was started by Mute Records. Live Here Now produced instant live recordings for such artists as Blur, Depeche Mode, Franz Ferdinand, the Pixies, Goldfrapp and Moby, among others.

The Abbey Road Live crew will include Simon Miller, senior VP of new product development and live at EMI Music; recording engineer/producer Will Shapland; David Rowntree, head of operations at Abbey Road Live; Marcus Salisbury, head of production at Abbey Road Live; and DiscLive founder Zach Bair.

In recent months, the Abbey Road Live crew has tested its products on U.K. concerts by Blur, Deadmau5 and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

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