The Grateful Dead were pioneers in many ways, but one thing that has always stood out as unique in their business model was the encouragement of show taping. Unlike most artists, who relied on money from album sales, the Dead allowed tapers to capture their live performances as a means of distributing their music nationwide. Considering the Dead’s loyal and diehard fanbase, it’s safe to say that the venture was successful.
Enter the Internet Archive, a non-profit digital library that accepts and catalogues an extensive array of media. From everything including web sites, software applications/games, music, movies/videos, moving images, and nearly three million public-domain books, the Archive.org database just recently passed 15 PETAbytes. That’s one million gigabytes.
The Funniest Things Overheard At The Grateful Dead’s Final Shows in Chicago (Updated)
The Internet Archive is celebrating their history at their headquarters in San Francisco, CA next Wednesday, October 21st. The reception will also include the first-ever Internet Archive Hero Award, presented to the Grateful Dead as “pioneers in sharing.”
Check out more information about the event here, and don’t forget to share things!