This post is slightly off topic, but it relates to issues of technology, copyright and social media.

Go to a gig today and there’ll be dozens of people shooting photos or video on mobile phones or small point and shoot cameras. I am usually one of these people and have never had any trouble.

Last night, I was at the Rush gig in Vancouver. Yes, I fess up, I have a weakness for Rush – blame it on hearing Spirit of the Radio during my formative years.

Back to last night. I was happily enjoying watching these virtuoso musicians play live and taking some snapshots on a small Canon point and shoot camera.

So imagine my surprise when one of the ushers came up to me and told me to stop. “There is a strict no cameras policy”, I was told.

I was shocked and somewhat taken aback. It is the first time this has happened to me, and I go to see bands all the time. What was more surprising was that many others were doing exactly the same thing, but using cell phones.

Now, it could have been an overzealous usher. But the incident highlighted for me how old rules of what you can and can’t do at live performances have not kept up with how cultural practices have changed, partly due to technology.

Nowadays, just about everyone has the means to take photos or video, thanks to the ubiquitous nature of mobiles.

But this is also about how people can now share this content online, through Flickr or Youtube. Bands should be encouraging their fans to produce and distribute their own content. This creates loyalty and community.

For a band, your fans are your strongest asset. Telling them they can’t take photos or shoot some shaky video is counter intuitive.

The music industry has found it hard to cope with the MP3 file-sharing phenomenon. Perhaps it is also struggling to understand user-generated content and social media.

The gig itself was hugely enjoyable old skool rock, with fireworks, flames and psychedelic visuals.