Rhino Kills Free Downloads For Deadheads
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Artist:
It might have been in analogue, but the Grateful Dead pretty much created p2p. Long before internet file sharing, fans were encouraged by the band to tape shows and share them freely with friends. This was a great viral marketing tool, turning the band into a touring powerhouse independent of record sales. That tradition continued on the web with many sites, including the bands own dead.net, offering downloads of live shows. Each week a new track was pulled from the band's legendary vault and made available for download as a free mp3.
Not anymore. Warner Music's Rhino Records now controls the site and most of the Dead's assets, and have decided the shows are now only available streamed directly from the site.
From the press release: "Please note that beginning today all Taper's Section audio streams are served via a new media player in both Windows Media Audio and QuickTime Audio formats."
No more free downloads. No more sharing shows with friends. Just when The Grateful Dead stops and marketing becomes more important than ever to keep interest in the band alive, Rhino stops a tradition and viral promotion that created the Dead phenomena in the first place.
Edgar Bronfman, Warner Music's CEO recently proclaimed that music's ubiquity is a major problem, and that Warner plans to make less deals with digital providers in the coming months in an attempt to manufacture scarcity. This appears to be one of those steps.
To choose a band like the Dead seems ridiculous. Heck, somewhere I've got a business magazine article eulogising the Dead as the perfect Internet-era business model, precisely because of the viral element.To appreciate the full futility of the move do a Google search on "recording streaming audio". I got 2.8 million hits, including, at the top of the page, two highlighted Streaming Audio Recorder programs.
Move over King Canute - somebody wants your throne.
Locating MOG account...
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