Official releases
This category constitutes releases connected with an official production (live or film), or releases that otherwise in some way bear the blessings of the creators, Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Bootlegs
A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging.
Pro-shot recordings
These are video recordings shot by a professional film crew and are usually the most sought-after bootleg videos by fans. Although the quality is often very good they may have image or audio problems as most of these recordings have never been released for the public and have therefore not been carefully mastered for official release. In some rare cases pro-shot recordings can rival official products in quality, usually because a professional production house has produced the actual video. Because they lack the appropriate licence to release it to the public however they are still considered bootlegs.
Semi-Pro-shot or In-house recordings
This isn’t really a category but some people might come across a recording that is described or listed as semi-pro-shot or in-house. What it usually means is that the recording is either a mix between pro-shot and audience recording and that in most cases it’s shot by a single static camera owned by the theatre (in-house). Many of these recordings also tend to lack any high quality recorded audio as in most cases the on-board camera audio is used instead.
Audience recordings
A audience recording is either a audio or video recording, recorded (as the name would suggest) by someone in the audience. The quality may vary, depending on where the person might be seated, but overall it means that the quality is significantly lesser compared to a soundboard or pro-shot recording.
For other information regarding trading or sound quality ratings, please check out the Trading Info page.