“The largest tape transfer project in the history of rock ‘n roll”: Grateful Dead’s new streaming app boasts over 400 live shows, rare vault recordings, and weekly drops
The Grateful Dead have opened up their vast live archive with the launch of a dedicated streaming app, offering fans unprecedented access to decades of recordings pulled directly from the band’s vault.
Launched in partnership with live music streaming platform nugs.net, the new Play Dead app arrives with a sizeable initial offering of over 400 full live shows and 20 previously unreleased performances.
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For long-time listeners and collectors, the app aims to centralise material that has previously been scattered across formats, releases, and archival drops – including recordings that were previously only available on CD, now presented in higher-than-CD quality for the first time.
New content will continue to roll out weekly, curated by David Lemieux, the band’s longtime archivist and legacy manager, with two new releases arriving every Tuesday. Fans will also get to enjoy previously released live recordings presented in both hi-res and chronological order by performance date, a first in Grateful Dead history.
“Play Dead is the most complete way we’ve ever been able to share the vault,” says Lemieux. “These recordings capture the band’s journey night by night, and bringing them together in chronological order, with newly transferred and mastered audio, gives fans an entirely new way to experience this music. There’s always more to discover in the vault, and I’m excited to share something new every Tuesday.”
Credit: Play Dead
According to nugs founder and CEO Brad Serling, the project also represents a major undertaking in live music preservation and audio restoration.
“Play Dead kicks off the largest tape transfer project in the history of rock ‘n roll. We are pulling tapes off the shelf of the vault and transferring them at their highest resolution to date, and mastering in the studio for the first time,” says Sterling.
“These tapes were in the room with the band each night, and Play Dead will be the official hi-res streaming home of the vault, browsable chronologically in the order the music was performed. Working with Grateful Dead Productions and Rhino, we are giving listeners unprecedented access to 30 years of live recordings, via one of the greatest live archives ever assembled, with new discoveries coming every single week.”
The app is available as a standalone subscription ($9.99/month or $99.99/year) or as part of a bundle with nugs.net, with pricing tiers designed for both new listeners ($17.98/month or $169.98/year) and existing subscribers ($4.99/month or $49.99/year).
Learn more at Playdead.
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