Last week Grateful Dead Merchandising (GDM) pulled all of the band’s free live music downloads from the popular Live Music Archive. Deadheads responded bitterly by circulating a petition calling for a boycott of the organization — including CDs and pay music downloads — until the decision was reversed. More than 5,000 fans signed the online petition. It was announced last night that the protest paid off: The decision was reversed. For the most part.
A November 30th statement posted on Live Music Archive reads: “We at archive.org now realize that our mistaken attempts to move quickly were based on what we thought the Grateful Dead wanted. For this we apologize to both the Grateful Dead and their community.” While all of the band’s live audience recordings — and there are thousands — are once again available for free download, soundboard recordings will now be available only in streaming format. Archive.org notes that there could be future changes and thanked the Deadhead community for “helping guide this process.”
Source: RollingStone
