In this study, I offer an analysis of the complex world of live recordings of the Grateful Dead, produced by both the band and the fans, that function as mediated artifacts of the concert experience and cultural currency within the Dead Head scene. The non-commercial networks of exchange of these recordings formed a vital aspect of fandom and cultural production. Through the replication and dissemination of recordings, the culture itself reproduced. Few scholars have focused on those who are presently engaged with the music of the Grateful Dead or the role of amateur recordings in the expansion of the fan base after Jerry Garcia's death. With new digital technology and mass distribution via the Internet, investigation in the shifting nature of collecting and archiving the Grateful Dead warrants attention. This thesis will examine tape trade as a "technologized social [musical] life" (Taylor 2001:20) where identity and sociality are tied to the production and circulation of recorded music. The Grateful Dead deeply affected their fan base though this thesis does not hope to pinpoint and define the power of the Dead and their music, it does strive to demonstrate the way that power manifests within the taping, trading, and collecting subculture inside the larger scene of Dead Heads.
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