A friend of mine is on staff at a larger church in the Chicago area that wanted to produce a live worship album from one of their weekend services. After consulting with some larger churches that had done the same, they were surprised to discover that there really is no such thing as a true “live” album, even in Christian circles. They were told that when an artist produces a “live” album they merely record the ambient noise of the crowd and sometimes the artist talking between songs, but that the actual songs are re-recorded in studio to assure a more professional sound. Airbrushing at its finest.

Makes me wonder how ethical it really is to bill something as a live album, which we know people will expect to be more raw and unedited, and then go and record it in a studio so we don’t sound bad. Does that bother anyone else?