# What qualifies as "live" for Audio Drama and Spokenword Broadcasts?

**URL:** https://community.metabrainz.org/t/what-qualifies-as-live-for-audio-drama-and-spokenword-broadcasts/787754
**Category:** MusicBrainz
**Tags:** broadcast, discussion, audio-drama, spokenword, style
**Created:** [August 24, 2025, 11:17pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/what-qualifies-as-live-for-audio-drama-and-spokenword-broadcasts/787754 "2025-08-24T23:17:44Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 2

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### Author: ![aerozol](https://community.metabrainz.org/user_avatar/community.metabrainz.org/aerozol/32/116_2.png) [@aerozol](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/aerozol)
#### Post date: [August 25, 2025, 2:57am UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/what-qualifies-as-live-for-audio-drama-and-spokenword-broadcasts/787754/2 "2025-08-25T02:57:36Z")

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For reference, it seems that this is where it was discussed when the guidelines were updated: [Broadcast Guidelines - #6 by IvanDobsky](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/broadcast-guidelines/623756/6)  
A short discussion, and it seems to only have had feedback from myself, @IvanDobsky and @reosarevok (and reo/the style lead was open to changing it in future/did not firmly advocate for one or the other).

Personally, I disagree that having a studio audience makes a release live in the sense that I expect, which is… a (usually public) single performance that is performed and recorded.

> [@diskotechjam](#):
>
> This means there will be continual confusion about why one recording with audience noise is live while another is not.

I’ve never come across this confusion - a professional BBC studio production is not live (as I expect it), whereas a BBC release called “Joe’s Jokes Live at Bob’s Amphitheatre” will be.

On the other hand, if it doesn’t explicitly say “filmed in front of a studio audience” I don’t know how the editor would know if the studio audience was edited in later (e.g. canned laughter, or recorded over) - and I think the distinction would be pointless anyway.

I’m fine for the guideline to be changed if there’s consensus, but my interpretation/expectation of ‘live’ is that it’s a (within reason) 1 take performance in front of a crowd. e.g. If a band records an album in the same way as always/a studio album, but with a crowd in the recording booth, I don’t consider it live 🤔

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