Sifting through the mountains of Apple patent filings is about as much fun as watching paint dry, but a new service dubbed "iTunes Live" actually managed to catch our attention. The iTunes store has just about any pre-recorded song you can think of, but one area where it lacks is in the live concert department. Sure you can find the odd professionally mastered concert recordings in the archive, but the truly unique b-sides just never seem to find their way into the store. Well, if the details of the patent filing and the catchy trademark hold true, this might just be about to change.
The "iTunes Live" patent pertains to two separate classes.
1.) Online retail store services in the field of entertainment featuring prerecorded music, audio and audiovisual content.
2.) Entertainment services, namely, arranging and conducting of concerts and musical performances.
Presumably this could mean Apple is planning on hosting more live performances, and producing content that is unique to the iTunes store. This could be a response to the growing success of other online mp3 marketplaces including the Amazon Music Store. Now that everyone is DRM free, the best way to win over consumers in the long run is with exclusive content.
Would your favorite band in a live concert convince you to go hang out at an Apple store?