Deadheads can now stream 424 Grateful Dead concert recordings through the new Play Dead subscription service on Nugs. The platform, partnered with Grateful Dead Productions and Rhino Entertainment, launched with 20 previously unreleased vault recordings. It features high-resolution audio mastered for superior quality.
Play Dead offers access to many Grateful Dead concerts hitting streaming services for the first time. Nugs founder and CEO Brad Serling partnered with the band in 2000 on Project Bandwagon, an early streaming idea that stalled until recent technology advances. Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux and Rhino joined to digitize multitrack tapes, reel-to-reels, and DAT tapes, creating what Serling called the largest tape transfer project in rock history for a single band, according to Billboard. The service will not affect the band's physical releases through Rhino. Lemieux emphasized quality control amid around 2,300 unique bootlegs, with audio mastered better than heavily redubbed cassettes. Minimum resolution stands at 24 bits and 48kHz, surpassing standard CDs. Lemieux said, “This is not, ‘Let’s do quick transfers and spit them out.'” Additional features include Lemieux's curated selections, user playlists, and a navigable interface for the band's vast catalog. Unlike typical archival releases of full shows, Play Dead provides partial concerts. Serling described the recordings as “the last living relic of what was in the room with the band,” captured in high-res digital format. The launch follows celebrations including John Mayer's weekly Sirius XM listening parties and Chloë Sevigny's production on a film about Deadheads, prompted by guitarist Bob Weir's death.