Aus start-up OpenLIVE launches download store and live recording platform

High-resolution music download store and live recording platformOpenLIVE,has today launched in Australia.

It launches with over 1.5m tracks from established and emerging artists, and 2.5m Hi-Res Audio (CD quality) tracks, which can be downloaded intact, without lossy compression.

The start-up also acts as a live performance recording platform, with the company set to partner with Australian venues for 24-bit/48kHz recordings of live audio performances.

OpenLIVE’s backend technologies, titled MasterBuilder, includes hardware which collects high-quality sound recordings of an artist’s concert and delivers them afterward to the artist's ‘dashboard’.

OpenLIVE CEO Dale Moore told TMN they are still finalising their deals with local venues and have plans to announce them in the coming weeks.

In June OpenLIVE announced its partnership with Europe-based digital music platform 7Digital to power its music store. The agreement, announced at MIDEM in Cannes, was made to complement OpenLIVE’s catalogue of live recordings with fully downloadable studio recordings. However, in terms of the company’s day-to-day operations, OpenLIVE remains autonomous in Australia.

Dale Mooretold TMN that while OpenLIVE doesn’t have direct licensing deals with record labels, those agreements are currently covered by 7Digital.

“7Digital essentially power our back-end and manage licensing directly with labels. “[…] We know we need to work with labels on a local level for promotion and a whole raft of things, so now that we're live we'll be reaching out to as many labels as possible to fill them in on what we're doing so we can work with them to promote their artists and promote the virtues of Hi-Res Audio in Australia.”

In terms of day-to-day operation, we're totally autonomous down here in Aus. We take advantage of the technology 7Digital have built but all the day-to-day operation of the business is completely up to the local team.

OpenLIVE doesn’t charge a blanket amount to download recordings. Prices range from $2 – $3.30 for individual songs, between $17 – $30 for albums, and $15 – $33 for live album recordings.

OpenLIVE is expected to launch its consumer services in the UK and US later this year.

“We definitely have some grand plans for OpenLIVE. We believe Hi-Res music is important so we do want to take this concept into other markets," Moore told TMN."The UK and US are two obvious markets with more on our radar. But we're working through those plans at the moment as there are many things to coordinate before we can take that step.”