I'm as critical of Clear Channel's domination of commercial radio and concert promotion as anyone: homogenization of culure is a bad thing, but an instant CD of a live concert you have just attended is a great idea that benefits everyone involved:

The venture, Instant Live, will enable a band's still-sweating fans to leave with a musical souvenir instead of say, a pricey T-shirt or a glossy program.

Although initially modest, involving only small-audience clubs and theaters in the Boston area, the venture could eventually extend beyond radio and concerts into music distribution.

....Clear Channel executives say Instant Live is not so much a foray into the CD business as it is a way to wring further revenue from live music events. And they note that it is simply a continuation of the trend among various bands and start-ups in recent years to sell authorized recordings that are available on CD or as Internet downloads soon after the event. This practice can generate additional revenue for musicians and also thwart illicit concert recordings, they said.

"We're not interested in signing artists to exclusive recording contracts," said Steve Simon, an executive vice president in Clear Channel's concert promotion unit in Cambridge, Mass.

The Instant Live venture adds an element of immediate gratification for music consumers, with towers of CD burners turning out multiple copies of the digital recordings.

"They would look at it as another trinket to sell to concertgoers when they're at their venue, whether it's a T-shirt or an instant bootleg or a hot dog," said James M. Marsh, a broadcasting analyst at the investment bank SG Cowen Securities.

And at least one long-time manager of rock bands, Irving Azoff, said he was enthusiastic about the Instant Live concept, especially at a time when concert concession sales are declining. "I, for one, would rather have a live CD of the show that I can take home than a T-shirt," he said. "So I think it's the future of the touring merchandising business."

....Mr. Simon said Clear Channel would hold as many as five Instant Live concerts a month at small clubs in the Boston area. He said the venture would expand to larger venues and other cities. Clear Channel also has an exclusive distribution agreement with the Best Buy consumer electronics chain to sell Instant Live CD's in eight of its Boston-area stores and, beginning in mid-May, through its BestBuy.com Web site.

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