For the last nine months or so, one of the little joys in my life has been stopping by the Dead’s Web site to download a few nuggets from the Tapers’ Section, a series of posts by David Lemieux, the band’s archivist. Each week Lemieux put up a half-dozen or so MP3s from shows the band played that week, usually a nice range from the late 60s up to shows that I was seeing before they hung it up in 1995. I would download the ones I wanted, stuff them on the iPod and enjoy a nice selection of Grateful Dead history.

As of this week, that’s apparently over. If you go to the Tapers’ Section home, you’ll see this notice:

Please note that beginning today, all Tapers’ Section audio streams are served via a new media player in both Windows Media Audio and and QuickTime Audio formats.

Seems innocuous, right? Except for the mention of “streams.” These were MP3s before yesterday — you download them and go on your way. Streaming audio means you’re tethered to your computer — or you have to screw around with software to rip the streams if you want to keep them for your own use.

As you might recall from the reaction when the band removed soundboard recordings from the Archive, Deadheads don’t take changes like this one lightly. And they’re not happy about this one either — as of right now, there are 23 pages of comments, and I have yet to find one that professes happiness about the change.

When the band tinkered with the Archive two years ago, I defended their decision, because I felt they had a right to control the free distribution of recordings that they might wish to release in the future. What business in its right mind would want to continue an arrangement that set themselves up as their primary competition?

I thought the band reacted well after that change. They started, almost immediately, a series of remastered soundboard recordings available for purchase through their site or on iTunes. I bought several, and was really impressed with the pace of the releases — usually about every other month. If this was the future, I was going to be happy.

About a year ago, that changed. The band announced an agreement with Rhino, which would manage future archival releases, as well as handle the band’s merchandising biz. Although the download series ground to a halt, I thought Rhino’s track record was good — and we’d be in good hands from that point on. Even the news release made a couple of statements I thought were encouraging. From the band:

The Rhino license maintains our role in the creative decision-making process, ensures that Rhino will continue the high quality of our releases and products, and respects the years of relationships we’ve developed with our audience, our fellow artists and our licensees.

From Rhino Senior VP Jimmy Edwards:

With Grateful Dead, it all begins with the music and the fans. They truly have one of the most knowledgeable and devoted followings in popular music. We are very excited about this opportunity to preserve and nurture this special relationship through releases and initiatives of the highest integrity.

Sounds nice, huh? And then they started up the Tapers’ Section, which I saw as a small way to grow interest and good will, while Rhino prepped new releases to put up in the store.

Except the releases really haven’t come — there have been only two since Rhino took over, and there’s no sign that the download series will be resurrected any time soon. And now the one thing they were doing very well is gone.

Why? Not sure. The band has never been especially forthcoming when stuff like this comes up, and Rhino isn’t offering any explanations I can find. If we’re going back to the argument about protecting our future assets … I don’t think I’m going to accept that this time around. Free availability of full shows, recorded from the soundboard, is competition when you’re planning to sell that show as a download for $15 bucks a pop. But putting up a handful of free MP3s isn’t competing with anything you might plan to do in the future, unless that future includes throwing the doors of the vault wide open, and making everything available iTunes style. But it does garner interest and good will — and, I’d bet, lots of happy future customers.

I would rant here about how the music business works these days, with artists offering songs for free at various places as a promotional tool — but the Grateful Dead knows that business model already, BECAUSE THEY’VE BEEN DOING IT FOR DECADES. By making this most recent change mid-stream, someone — and the community seems to think it’s Rhino — has just crushed whatever favor they had curried in the last nine months.

Do I have a reason to check back with the band’s Web page now? Not really. I can get tour info and tickets for Ratdog and P&F from the sites they run. I can still — for the time being, at least — get old shows through etree’s bit torrent site. I can connect with the community through the numerous forums that exist outside the Rhino framework. Even if I choose to check out a new release — although that’s apparently going to be a rare event — I can pick it up through Amazon, and usually for a couple bucks less than what Rhino is asking.

Let’s go back to Jimmy Edwards’ comments about nurturing the “special relationship” with the band’s audience. Jimmy? We don’t need you. We will support you — but only if you give us a reason to do so.