Grateful Dead

jerry just rolled over in his grave!........................please bring back the mp3's.

Overheard at the Rhino breakroom: Croney 1: Man, did you see how many hits that Grateful Dead site is getting? Croney 2: Yeah, who knew there was that much interest? Croney 1: I'm not too surprised, they're giving away music via MP3 downloads. Croney 2: What? I'm sorry, I thought you just said that they are giving away music. Croney 1: You heard right! Croney 2: OK, so you mean to tell me that I had to buy the latest Rihanna when I downloaded it, but Rhino is giving away music to hippies? Croney 1: That's right! In fact, we're giving it away to so many hippies, our server farm is starting to smell like patchouli. Croney 2: nyuk nyuk nyuk...well, screw this, I say we put a stop to it! Croney 1: You know, thats a good idea! Why should hippies get free music when we have to lay down our hard earned cash for music? This isn't a communist country after all! Croney 2: I'll go draft a memo, you gather support. Croney 1: OK, see ya later... | I'm just a, well...porpoise. |

I guess since I was streaming only- the only proper way to listen to mere MP3 quality (imho)- still sounds good when I plug the good noise reducing headphones in, but everytime I tape it for the car- no dice- I dunno, but please, I like the quick info that is included in the style- I spend plenty of time on the information superhighway that I can listen while sialing, or surfing or whatever. I really deadicate myself to a job when I call it employment and get a paycheck, so I would not listen at work (unless it was my job....) and in fact I quit my last job because the mangers were wearing iPodz along with the other staff- nope- I like to try and focus- so I will listen while I recreationally electra-fry my brain wavez.Time to close my eye for a few spins (always good to take a break,) and look one of my favorites- Donna only!?!- now that's newz to these ears... hey, Rhino- if you do read this- I will be looking to see what comes next....

Rhino - you are rapidly losing your market - I for one am fed up with being treated like a piece of dirt. Bring back the mp3s or lose my custom - the choice is yours.

He was on the old board answering questions.......WHERE YOU AT PAT!!!! We want some answers........Funny that we have 26 pages of post in less that 48 hours........ SOMEONE AT RHINO NEEDS TO EXPLAIN ALL OF THIS!!!!!!! The only reason any of this makes sense is if Rhino does the following: DAVID'S PICK'S (I want 4-5 shows a year) MORE DIGITAL DOWNLOADS DVD's RHINO-$$$$$ is just waiting to be dropped on your doorstep, but you need to RELEASE shit!!!! Dead to the Core www.myspace.com/bongwizard

On August 21st, 2007 Copenhagen81 said: I'm listening to the new MOUNTAIN record: MASTERS OF WAR (Big Rock Records). Yes, I'm out of tune, That may be, or may not be so but thank you all the same.... you have inspired me to order this album, its costing me $20.00 including delivery to the UK, that’ll be a third of the Rhino postage. Jeez, go figure their customer/ marketing/ sales strategy. Still feeling miffed, but hoping Rhino can make it better.

This is so fucking hard (pardon my not-french). But you guys all know how hard it is, too. I think everyone quite justifiably feels like they just got the shaft - and so do I. I'm streaming a selection right now, and it's just not the same. I hear Gans telling us that this is a lot more complicated than it appears from here, and I have no doubt that is true. He knows these folks tons better than I do, and if he's willing to wait a little to hear what they have to say, then so am I. While our folks at Rhino aren't responding in here, I have no doubt that they are reading this forum as they can, and that they are well aware of everything that has been said herein.

Please bring back the downloadable 192k mp3s . Whatever hapened to "when the band is finished playing the music, they are finished with it and the fans can have it" ?

Another disapointed Dead Head, bring back the mp3's or better yet .shn or .flac files

bring back the mp3's, please. the streams are nice, but the mp3's are more readily usable in my car, or on my stereo rig, or any way that I see fit. if I am to be held to the terms of the distributor to enjoy the music, then I will stick with the aud tapes in circulation. I realize that I have no right to the music, but the band, and Rhino, have no right to dictate how or when or where I listen. I buy the releases, the albums, CD's, downloads, and now the Sirius channel, why must I listen to these otherwise unused tidbits on your terms only? show us a little kindness, will ya?

Got the music Waited the stream to arrive more then 50 hours ! I can listen to midnite hours got a good sounding PC w/ expensive Altec Speakers & top Sound Card bring the mp3 back €

Just when things looked brighter thanks to Karl Rove's resignation, someone at Rhino had a great idea to dress up as a black hole and suck up all the joy by screwing up the downloads. If Rhino can't seem to figure out that people want to buy complete shows, then why not let the downloads keep us from musical scurvy. Moreover, I still can't figure why the pace of releases is slower than a Jerry ballad, and the ones we got, while enjoyable, were not exactly diamonds from the mine given their wide availability. But, of course, I bought them as has been the case with every single CD and DVD release, and I love 'em and listen to them. Gee, maybe we can get another video from 89-95 with Wave to the Wind and Corrina as bonus filler. That would be something! Now I'll go back to scratching my head over the even more mysterious dearth of Jerry releases.

I'm getting angrier by the minute. http://unclecrappy.wordpress.com/2007/08/21/hes-gone/

Ironically, a fitting lyrich in the song Foolish Heart from this week's offering............"bite the hand that makes your bread"

Rhino is as confounded as the rest of the recording industry which are pathetic victims of their own greed driven creation. David Lemeaux was doing a steller job with his selections, no arguments there. The powers that be have never really released what the fans want, perhaps official releases should be put to a popular vote like...gasp...American Idol? GIVE THE PUBLIC WHAT THEY WANT!!! I am sorry Rhino is late to the party, but my money has already been spent on the band a long time ago; first albums, then tapes, and then CD's. We as Deadheads literally are a dying breed, there are fewer and fewer of us everyday. As I posted somewhere on here once before, the longer they wait to put the music back out there, the less profit they will make, and that is a plain and simple fact. I don't need another remaster of the studio albums, I need Winterland 6/17/75!!! I need Merriweather Post 6/30/85!!! I have most of the Dicks Picks, a handful I listen to regularly, some just fill up space in my collection to complete a run, and some I never bought because they, in my opinion, were mediocore shows at best(DP6 10-14-83 I'm talking to you). Like many folks I thought the premise of Three from the Vault was too little too late...and it really wasn't anything special. Wouldn't it be something to come out with a complete New Years Box Set of all the New Years shows, or the complete April 1971 run at the Fillmore East(come on...the show with the Beach Boys was cool), Europe '81 anybody? Radio City 1980? In my opinion the last 5 shows from Winterland 10/74 should have been released as a complete set as a companion to the GD Movie rerelease. I am tired of chopped up releases. How about all of those Dicks Picks where the songs that have been left off turn out to be smokin versions when you hear them later. Not to knock Dick, I appreciate what he did, but we want complete shows; uncut, unedited, and unmolested. It is really sad that the Bob Dylan sets were left off View from the Vault and I can't be the only one disappointed that the Neville Bros were left off Ticket to New Years. After Jerry died I took a hiatus myself, got into other things to where I wouldn't listen to the Dead daily, maybe a week or a month would pass without me really listening to them(not to mention the stale and lethargic pace of releases added to this malaise), but then this site and the MP3s that were offered here totally renewed and reinvigorated my desire for the band to where I have had the need to listen to them again everyday now for the past few months. But now...it is a total slap in the face and a sense of loss all over again. Thanks alot corporate a**holes!!! Oh and one more thing, it is an absolute sin that all the Jerry solo stuff is rotting away somewhere unheard...what a waste!

just so you know - this is friend of the guy who has this accounti wanted you to know i respected the dead a little and this site for a while. if you cant handle learning how to handle bw and space then thats one thing. but quite frankly i'll just go grab whatever i want elsewhere. this place was convenient - but as usual i see shortsighted and ignorance coming to the forward. as for me i spotted a torrent with all of the dicks picks - perhaps i should go grab that ~_~ oh wait - you dont mind me grabbing this stuff? but but but its gotta be so low qual [im guessing because your bandwidth sux] and streaming? wmv and mov codecs are CRAP. mp3 isnt all that great either - but at least its decent enough to listen to - just barely.... so thanx for createing another pirate. i [the guy who is ranting not the owner of this acct] am not going to ever listen to you again - go hang out with lars and sue 13 year olds for sharing their love of your music. or did you forget the dead made their success by growing their own fanbase, having lots of good drugs and love and SHITLOADS of concerts. i guess you dont give a damn but kiss my ass!! [and dont hold it against rich plz]

lost in the hurtfulness of the revoked downloads is the fact that given so many hot shows in August, nothing from this month in history is selected for this week's Taper Section.

So I won't fully quote anyone, but I have confirmed that it is none other than... "Rhino, who does the encoding and formatting"
One way or another this darkness got to give.

Rhino may reconsider their decision based on my proposal. I love downloading these tracks weekly and putting them on my Ipod to listen to again and again. In order to do this, I have only to make a one time download. But what happens now when I want to listen to the tracks over and over and over again? All of a sudden, I become a serious weight on their bandwidth. i.e. - If I wanted to listen to a nice juicy Scarlet/Fire that I had previously downloaded, all I'd have to do is hit repeat... That was what? 28megs once? Now if I want to listen to it over and over 28megs x 5... 6.... what if I really like it and want to listen to it every day??? Well then, I guess Rhino is going to be kind and provide that bandwidth to me so that I may enjoy my favorite tracks time and again. BRING BACK THE MP3's

This is my attempt at a note to Rhino in my ration of 1000 characters. ----------------------------------------------------------------- May suggest how you might put things right 1. Please communicate with us. Some of this anger is over the way you do things. The website’s Official Communications forum has just ONE message from you in 3 months. It is unfair to expect the (excellent) moderators to be powerless conduits of what you tell them and what they hear from us. 2. Please make a plan for the archive and share it. Right now you give the impression that you don’t have a clue what to do. Dick’s/Dave’s Picks, DL, MP3s, DVDs or the real dream, the online store for the archive sold by the hour. Just tell us or even better ask us. Use the site to find out what we want! 3. Please make some sense. The website (with the attraction of the MP3s) and store have been weaning people off ‘illegal sources’. Isn’t that what you want? Your current actions will drive everyone to alternative sources and destroy the website. Deadheads are different …we are not just fly by night consumers…we feel we are true stakeholders in this. Please have some respect and listen! ------------------------------------------------------------------ that'll do the trick then!!

Probably the best thing (due to this response) is to end the taper's section a few months early. Then maybe start a new section called This Month in Dead History. Because I do like the historical part of the weekly post. Then of course get Rhino to put up a monthly show (to download) to go along with the monthly section, this of course being a representative show of the month, with something like: "listen to the show for free by streaming, or purchase the show" (for 12 or 15 dollars). Let the choice be the person on the other end. Just a Greg SC

In response to Greg SC's post: Was the taper's section scheduled to shut down at some point?

http://unclecrappy.wordpress.com/2007/08/21/hes-gone/ Complain to Rhino: drrhino@rhino.com

The material released from the taper's section over the past year singlehandedly revived my interest in the music and history of the Grateful Dead. It was wonderful and convenient to have these iPod-friendly snippets that I could listen to anywhere, anytime. Please go back to the MP3 format.

does seem to be a good way out of this situation, it depends how upset everybody is on both sides of the fence Bob W - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Spanish Jam

Don't tell me the Republicans got ahold of the Taper's Section, too?!? Damn, man. Sorta takes the fun out of music if you have to be tied to a computer. Please rethink this situation or change the name. Tapers everywhere are rolling in their graves.

I may not be the only one but some of the stuff is from shows I have been to and loved re-living the times. They did not play the shows in a format that we had to be right there to remember. We could take the memory home. I was revived when I found this site and now I feel as if it is over once again. Sitting at the computer for a 50 meg piece is not fun. It's gone..........and it aint ever coming back................Stole our faces right off of our head..............

Count me included as someone who: 1. Has looked forward to this site every week 2. Has purchased most all the available commercial products, including all multitrack releases, all vids, and at least 30 DicksPicks 3. Does not, and will not, listen to music over my computer speakers. David, you've done a fantastic job on this! I am very grateful. I won't be listening any more unless the mp3s return.

It was fun while it lasted. Too bad that the economics could not keep GDP going forever. You have to work for these clowns in a dying industry. At least in ten years you'll get your vault back fully digitized.

I sent the Email I sent the Letter - What else can we do!!! Bring Them back - Its Wednesday now - this many comments already and no one offical has yet to comment or make an edit. Please someone let us know whats up

Another brilliant marketing MOVe by Rhino... Can you smell my sarcasm...???

http://www.dvd-ipod.biz/wax_to_mp3.html There are others available.

it is indeed ironic that a section of dead.net devoted to the tapers (who were allowed to tape dead shows on the primary condition that they not receive money for their efforts) has been altered for reasons that are presumably economic in nature. it's depressing to think that the people making decisions are so out of touch with their fan base that they cannot see the wisdom in reflecting towards the deadheads a modicum of the sense of generosity the band worked so hard to cultivate among tapers.

While waiting for Rhino to respond to our complaints about their business practices, here's a quote from an August 4, 2006 Marin Independent Journal article concerning the moving of the vault from Novato to Warner Brothers under Rhino's control: "It's sad to see it go," Grateful Dead tape archivist David Lemieux said of the vault collection. "But it couldn't be in better hands." Nothing personal against you, David. Everybody has lapses in judgment. After all, at one point the GD thought playing "Day Job" was a good idea.

Rhino's lack of a response is deafening. Even if they had a valid and reasonable reason for doing what they did, the fact that they didn't even bother to give us advance notice demonstrates that they simply don't give a shit about us. I do not even download the tapers or gd hour features, and I am still pissed off by the way we get treated. You would think after the Archives public relations disaster they would have learned something. Either they are morons -- which I doubt -- or they simply don't care. You can't tell me they didn't anticipate a backlash. Mr. Lemieux-- I know it is not your fault, but how about at least weighing in on this.

Pilch, Just a bit of deductive reasoning on my part: ' 1) the taper's section began last November 2) it is a week by week look at grateful dead concerts (i.e., this week in GD history, etc.) 3) after 1 year, all 52 weeks would have been reviewed 4) the conclusion, after 1 year the taper's section concludes Greg SC

It's a shame that David's great weekly selections will reach far less ears now that the download option is gone. A very short sighted decision by Rhino to yank this free music.....a horrible business/PR move. First on archive now here.......... this is gonna cost you Rhino, Deadheads don't take kindly to such nonsense.

Just feel I need to add my voice to a long list of folks... I've looked forward to coming here to see what David picked for the week. I would download the MP3s and play them at my part-time job that had a great deal of Grateful Dead fan traffic. Can't tell you how many folks were turned on to this site. I have every official GD/Garcia release (as well as the DVDs, Dicks Picks, Vault Releases, etc.), and duplicates of others. Case in point, the two large box-sets (Golden Road and Band Beyond Description). Already had those in original CD form, but bought the box sets for the remastered sound as well as the new gems tacked on at the end. This is (or was) your customer base.... I hope Rhino reconsiders this horrific marketing blunder as the base is no more... The summer sun looked down on him His mother could but frown on him And all the others sound on him But it doesn't seem to matter David, thanks for your efforts. I enjoyed the ride while it lasted.

..Thats right.... Warner Brothers, who owns Rhino and now the Grateful Dead vaults, historically has a bad reputation for bad business practices since it's inception. A couple examples: Frank Zappa - After an 8 year contract, Frank Zappa had a falling out with Warner Brothers that is legendary. The following link is fascinating.... http://members.aol.com/biffyshrew/press.html Marx Brothers - Groucho wrote a now famous letter and this next link is very entertaining.... http://www.chillingeffects.org/resource.cgi?ResourceID=31&print=yes .........there are numerous instances where Warner Brothers and their nefarious business practices has led to numerous lawsuits, lost revenues, bad marketing, poor publicity and the list goes on. Looks like The Grateful Dead are the next on the list of artists bamboozled by Warner Brothers.

Well this really blows....I haven't read through all the comments yet because there seem to be so many on this stupid decision by Rhino, but I think Jerry warned us all that, "There's nothing you can hold for very long...," even though he told us that once the Grateful Dead had played their music {and what sweet sweet music it was} they were done with it. I guess nobody listens to old wise sayings anymore.Maybe considering what other bands are doing these days, Rhino figured out that they were literally sitting on a goldmine. At least Arista didn't figure it out back in 87 or we'd of all been more than sol. Can you imagine not having been able to tape? And then having to buy it after the show?! I just wish that they had put more mid to late 80's stuff on there so I could have gotten a little bit more. I also wish that I hadn't just gotten all the rest of the Dead/Rhino catalog recently. If I hadn't already opened it up and loaded it up to the ipod, it would all be back at Amoeba in Hollywood. I am extremely grateful for what I did get off Dead.net, which was quite a bit, too, however this is an extremely bad marketing decision on Rhino's part. These downloads got me back into the Dead being a part of my daily routine again. It was exciting waiting for Monday morning to see if they had a little chunk of a show I had been to. It actually got me back into buying cd's and going to shows like RatDog and Phil & Friends. Now I make a face at the Rhino megalith that sits in the middle of Burbank every morning and evening that I drive by it. I'm almost ashamed that I put that Steal Your Face on the back window of my new Honda before it even left the car lot.....I say almost ashamed because once a head, always a head. Well I just had to get this off my chest - David I know you did the best you could - Let's just hope that maybe you can do a bit better and find us something to get again - maybe go work for Jerry Garcia's site now? Hey sometimes the Jerry shows were even better! Well??

Several people here have mentioned the dearth of new Jerry releases and the museum-like silence that envelopes jerrygarcia .com - my own pet theory on that score is that The Widder Garcia and her organization are probably focussed on the bigger-money deal of getting the movie made. If, when, that happens, there will be so much money we may never hear another new note of JGB music ever again. Call me cynical, but that's my take. Of course, that doesn't explain what happened here - or does it? Maybe they don't want all the projected new traffic from the movie coming here and only nabbing the freebies (as movie fans are wont to do), or maybe not. It's a thought ...

To the decison maker on this issue.. There are plenty of people willing to pay for full shows so you can make your almighty dollar. Bring back the download MP3s!!! Isn't that is what it is all about - sharing the music or maybe we are past that now and $$$ are the most important thing? Looks that way. Wrong move for this site that is for sure. Let's go people, time to put the pressure on the greed factor. Ferdawg

The Taper's Section mp3 downloads were the single best feature on the new dead.net. I'm guessing that the shift to streaming was motivated by the economics of bandwidth, which is kind of understandable and will fix itself in a large way when traffic falls off as a result of gutting the best feature on the improved website, and the fear that folks will download the MP3s in lieu of buying official releases, which seems to indicate corporate cluelessness about the nature of the market being served. Bad move folks. A really bad move.

Not sure if anyone is even reading these comments (i.e David). So why not email him a copy of your comments. DavidLemieuxvault@dead.net Surely someone has to respond soon to this outflux of comments - how many will we have by Sunday!?

"There's nothing you can hold for very long..." That wasn't written by Jerry but visionary lyricist/poet, Robert Hunter. In fact, most of the words and phrases in songs attributed to Jerry and quoted by many apparently clueless Deadheads, Garcia didn't think up at all, whatsoever. Consider this next time you want to invoke wisdom of the Big Guy.

man whats going on?this was the BEST thing that has happened to me in a long while.PLEASE,PLEASE go back to the old format.

i can't do w-out the killer tunes please help us out.

Fine. We all know Hunter wrote the words. Jesus H Christ, can't a guy just get some shit off of his chest without someone nitpicking semantics???!!!

Hey, what does the "H" in Jesus H Christ stand for? I've always wondered that. By the way, this streaming thing blows. | I'm just a, well...porpoise. |

Why am I so upset? Upon further reflection, it is not the fact that I won't have more of these downloads in the future. Its really the realization that this Dead.net site is not what it seemed it might be. Fact is, I have many ways of getting more high quality digital dead than I have time to listen to. But I was starting to believe that the new Dead.net could actually be an online home for a bit of the old Dead family feeling. Like many others who have spoken here, I found that Taper's Section had reinvigorated my Dead listening (and buying) habit. I was a Head for so many years, down so many roads. And once a Head, always... But for years since, I have mostly listened to other music, thinking it better to not just daydream in my past ecstacies. This changed for me with David's tasteful weekly sampling. That re-opened the stargate, and now I listen to the Dead all the time again. And I've bought a lot of releases! I am a Head reborn. I will keep listening, copying, trading and enjoying. But I will buy no more. And I will visit Dead.net no more. I don't feel entitled to anything but respect, consistency, communication and kindness. The Dead were always a magical trip mixed with just enough of a commercial venture to keep it all afloat in 20th century capitalist America. It worked for a long time. But this site is now, to me, revealed to be just a thinly veiled commercial venture attempting to use our strong feelings of love, attachment and nostalgia to line their pockets. It is ultimately not about the music, the Dead experience or keeping the community alive. To all of you other Dead Heads: I will see you at shows, in the skies above, in the tall grass, in the one I love. Long live the Dead. I love you more than words can tell. Dr. Funky