It seems like they are changing their philosophy with respect to free exchange of their music:
The Grateful Dead, the business, is testing the loyalty of longtime fans of the Grateful Dead, the pioneering jam band, by cracking down on an independently run Web site that made thousands of recordings of its live concerts available for free downloading.
The band recently asked the operators of the popular Live Music Archive (archive.org) to make the concert recordings – a staple of Grateful Dead fandom – available only for listening online, the band’s spokesman, Dennis McNally, said yesterday. In the meantime, the files that previously had been freely downloaded were taken down from the site last week.
Feh. End of an era. The Dead cracking down on ‘bootleggers,’ and Monday Night Football ending and moving to cable in a few weeks. I feel sad.
norbizness
This is actually doing the brains of people who would listen to 3 drum solos in the same song a favor.
Brad R.
This is actually doing the brains of people who would listen to 3 drum solos in the same song a favor.
I usually agree, but I can made exceptions if the drummer is John Bonham.
Mac Buckets
Since BJ seems to be on an “I Don’t Get It” jag lately (Phish, Jimmy Fallon)…I don’t get the Grateful Dead. I guess you get a choice when your musical tastes form — Punk, or the Dead, and hardly ever the twain shall meet.
zzyzx
On my way back from Amy’s Farm (free Phish festival in 1991), I dropped a co-attendee down at a club in Boston so he could see a punk show.
As for this GD move, it’s a huge mistake. I’m in the process of writing a column on Jambands.com about it. It’s completely going to backfire on them.
Mac Buckets
I said “hardly ever” because I do have a similar friend, although I think when he did a Phish/Henry Rollins doubleheader, he needed radically different chemicals to enjoy both.
Mac Buckets
But come to think of it, I’m not sure if he liked the Dead, just Phish (since Cole has the reverse preference, I guess the two bands aren’t interchangeable)…
zzyzx
It was just kind of amusing to do that.
dantes
The band hasn’t changed their policy at all. They’ve just decided to enforce it a bit so as to preserve GDP’s ability to raise revenue with board releases. More at the link.
Brian
I’m with MacBuckets. I don’t understand, and have never understood, the popularity of the Dead. My ex-wife loved them when we first met, she was a total Dead-head. I’m more of a Black Sabbath, Led Zep, Jeff Beck kinda guy. I see no inherent musical talent in them, and only hear sup-par musicians jamming in a garage. The Dead are, to me, a fraud perpetuated on the public thanks to the band’s perfect timing with the Woodstock “anything goes” generation.
Sherard
Great. The only comments are from the “I don’t get it” faction. You know what ? WE.DON’T.CARE.
So keep your moronic opinions to yourself. Hundreds and hundreds of Dead shows are in the public domain and have been for DECADES. Dead fans have followed the band and supported them financially for 35 years. The 36 volumes of Dicks Picks have been purchased in large quantities as well as merchandise of all kinds. As Dave Gans put it, you cannot put this genie back in the bottle. The only thing working against archive.org was the ease in which fans could download and enjoy the music.
Bottom line is, this move was intended to shore up the Dead’s commercial enterprise and I would be extremely surprised, not only that this won’t have the intended effect, but by contrast the opposite effect. You don’t piss on the most loyal fans on earth and expect them to take it and smile.
caleb
There are a ton of SBDs on the live music archive…..I completely understand them not wanting those on there…..but if they are going to go so far as to demand the audience recordings be withdrawn(which I think is the case), I think they are going too far and it will damage them in the fan community.
What will really be telling is if they don’t stop at LMA….but go after the torrent sites. Will bt.etree.org(huge jam band trading site) get a similar letter? If so…..prepare for backlash!
Veeshir
I don’t know if they can do that. They made it plain for every show that you could record the show. That’s why there’s so many bootlegs.
The recordings became the recorder’s property and I seriously doubt that there’s anything the Dead can do about it. Especially since they’re not trying to sell it.
I’ve never liked the Dead even though most of my friends were Dead-heads, but I always liked them for that.
I’ve just lost what little respect I had for them.
I wonder if somebody’s kids are thinking of their inheritence.
caleb
OK…I guess it’s just the SBDs they want off there. Nothing wrong with that….completely understandable.
If they decide to come after audience recordings though…….woah nelly!
Brian
Sherard,
I don’t get you at all.