The Music Never Stopped: The Future of the Grateful Dead Experience in the Information Age—Part 1

Co-chairs:
György Fazekas, Queen Mary University of London - London, UK
Thomas Wilmering, Queen Mary University of London - London, UK; Centre for Digital Music (C4DM)

Panelists:
Jeremy Berg, Cataloging Librarian, University of North Texas
Scott Carlson, Metadata Coordinator, Rice Fondren Library
Nicholas Meriwether, Director of Grateful Dead Archive, UCSC
John Meyer, Meyer Sound Labs
Bryan Pardo, Northwestern University - Evanston, IL, USA

Ever since the advent of recording, technology has been constantly shaping the way we interact with music as well as the relationship between artists and fans. For instance, file compression and broadband internet disrupted conventional music distribution, creating new opportunities for the formation of online fan communities. A growing number of bands allow taping their live performances while there are expanding online archives, such as Etree and the Live Music Archive, for trading audio freely with permission between an increasing number of fans. The Grateful Dead and their fans the Deadheads bestow a prominent example with their innovative use of this technology. Semantic technologies are next in line, with a premise of step change in how we access audio archives. This workshop explores how semantic technologies provide enriched experiences for fans, greater exposure for bands and new opportunities for archives to flourish. We demonstrate new ways of navigating concert recordings, particularly those of the Grateful Dead, discuss opportunities and requirements with audio archivists and librarians, as well as the broader social and cultural context of how new technologies bear on music archiving and fandom.