A couple of days after the successful staging of Sessionistas: The Playlist, concert director and performer Ice Seguerra took to social media to call attention to the unethical behavior of some concertgoers.
Sessionistas: The Playlist had a one night show at The Theatre at Solaire on August 22. Onstage with Ice were fellow Sessionistas Juris Fernandez, Kean Cipriano, Nyoy Volante, Princess Velasco, and Sitti Navarro. They serenaded the crowd with well-loved songs, divided into different playlists. The theatre was full, and the audience enjoyed the nostalgic trip down memory lane.
Many concertgoers had their phones out, capturing photos and snippets of their favorite performances. However, there were a handful who seemed to have missed the memo on concert etiquette, capturing and later uploading the concert in its entirety.
Ice did not let this breach pass, speaking up via a post on social media. While he expressed gratitude to people who showed appreciation by posting highlights of the show, he clarified that to take a video of the full show and uploading it is unacceptable.
“I really have to say this,” he began. “I appreciate that people take video highlights of our performances during shows. I love seeing your reactions, your favorite moments, and the songs that meant something to you.”
“But uploading full performances — or almost the entire concert — is different.”
Ice stressed the limitations of purchasing a concert ticket. While it grants access to the show, it doesn’t give one ownership over the entire production.
“When you buy a concert ticket, you’re buying the experience of watching the show. You are not buying the right to record the whole thing and upload it to your own YouTube page or social media pages,” he explained. “Hindi po dahil nakabili tayo ng ticket, atin na rin ang concert.”
He acknowledged the many people behind the staging of the concert, and urged the audience to respect the hard work that they have put into the production.
Ice did not mince words, saying: “That work is protected, and reposting full songs or entire portions of a concert without permission is not simply ‘sharing’. It is unauthorized distribution of someone else’s work.”
While he still encouraged people to share their favorite parts, he reiterated his plea to not post the concert in its entirety and asked for those who have done so to remove them.
“Please share your favorite moments. Post your photos. Post short clips. Tell people what you loved about the show. We appreciate all that,” he said. “But please don’t upload the concert itself.”
“To those who have uploaded full performances from our shows, I’m asking you to please take them down,” he continued.
Ice ended with a clear call for continued support, but in an ethical and respectful way.
“Support the music. Support the artists. Please don’t turn our work into content you never had the right to distribute.”