The music world is in the midst of an evolutionary explosion, with leaps of technology at every turn providing new ways to explore music as every angle of an album or live performance is documented extensively. But how do we take it all in? Sifting through YouTube is a crapshoot gamble at best, while buying the special edition release of every album that interests us is a quick way to break the bank. Even Netflix offers a spotty selection of music documentaries, with performance films almost nonexistent.
Enter Qello. A film streaming service for concerts, music documentaries and related films, Qello leaves no genre unexplored and no musical stone unturned in its quest to deliver archival excellence suited to viewers’ tastes. Launched in 2010, Qello dubs itself “the world’s leading on-demand streaming service for full length HD concert films and music documentaries,” which now boasts memberships in over a hundred countries and thousands of viewing options.
Like an evolved cross between Spotify and Netflix, the service’s chief focal point is a vast array of concert films, offered at a flat rate of $4.99 a month and available on nearly every capable device, from TVs to PS3s, PCs and beyond. Users can browse by artist, genre or decade, while Qello’s custom setlist options allow users to curate their own station, creating concert playlists and collections of individual tracks for a custom viewing experience. For some helpful suggestions along the way, Qello’s senior editor, legendary music writer Ben Fong Torres reviews new releases and publishes artist spotlights each week.
There’s an archival depth to their library, a selling point in itself. Beatles and Doors fans will disappear for days in Qello’s variety of offerings. From The Bee Gees to Blur, Dr. Dre to U2, the Everly Brothers to Eddie Vedder, the options are deep and wide, a veritable masters program of music-film history. Love Iggy and The Stooges but tired of Raw Power Live? Qello’s got three other films from the same band to choose from, as well as an entire Classic Albums series that takes viewers in-depth and behind the scenes on their favorite albums.
Given that it operates wirelessly, you’ll experience some dropouts in areas of spotty reception. So while the novelty of being able to stream Nine Inch Nails’ 2006 masterpiece Beside You in Time on your iPhone is a thrill, it’s silly to expect that it’ll play through as you’re riding through the mountains.
Unlike Spotify and their ilk, revenue-sharing is no concern for principled Qello viewers, with an agreement assuring licensors and producers are compensated for the streaming use of their work. For those who live and breathe a passion for music, Qello’s level of integrity mixed with devotion to a nearly-free premium viewing experience deserves a test run chance. At least I think so – I’ve gone and started a run of guest-editor playlists on Qello. The first mix is a collection of hard rock performances called Fire in The Veins. Check it out, then dig into Qello on your own. But you may want to clear your schedule beforehand.
