I seem to have struck a nerve.
Thanks to everyone who’s visited from dead.net and deadnetcentral.com yesterday and today. I put up a link to the previous post in the Tapers’ Section comments, rather than posting the whole beast there, and it seems the link got passed around a bit. Special thanks to Bob Murphy, who seems to be the first to put up a refer on the deadnetcentral boards, and to Joe B. Jones, who’s been using a slightly modified copy of the post’s final line as his tag today. If there are other references that I’ve missed, I appreciate them as well.
We all seem to be talking about the decision (still guessing it was Rhino’s) to replace the MP3s in the Tapers’ Section with streams — and as far as I can tell we’re still not getting much in the way of a response. That could be the single most frustrating part about this deal, at least for me. Communication is so easy these days, and with the nifty web page Rhino has been operating for the last few months, it seems like it would be a pretty simple thing to put up quick explanation about the thinking behind the change. I’m not saying that’s going to make everyone feel better, but it would at least answer some questions.
Rhino could help itself out in the communication area in other ways. I complained yesterday about the glacial pace of releases, especially when compared with the download series the band started a while back. I think any information Rhino could pass on about what its plans are would also be a big help. A new series of releases? Downloads? Maybe even ask us what we want to see? For a company that professes to value the special relationship the Grateful Dead has with its fans, it seems to me that these would be simple steps to take — and would go a long way towards restoring the good faith they crushed on Monday.
And as long as we’re talking about communication here … WordPress tells me that somewhere upwards of 400 people have visited Uncle Crappy since I posted yesterday afternoon — and I have yet to receive a single comment. As I mentioned yesterday, there are plenty of places Deadheads can go to talk; maybe we could do a little of the same here? I’d like to hear what you think, about what’s going on with Rhino, about what I’ve written, about what I may have missed. There’s a whole bunch of us going through this together — we might as well stick together while we figure out what should happen next.
Uncle Crappy 
Hey Now Uncle Crappy!
I guess somebody has to be the first to give you some feedback, so I guess it’ll be me. I too read your posts on Dead.net, and left a couple of my own. I couldn’t agree with you more. This whole GD/Rhino deal is very weird, and just doesn’t feel right. It’s been almost a year now since Rhino bought The Vault and nobody outside of Rhino’s inner circle has heard a peep. And the ones that do know won’t say a damn thing. WTF? I don’t understand what it is that they’re trying to accomplish by giving Deadheads the silent treatment. Is it so damn hard to at least put out a monthly news release and let us know whats going on with The Vault? I can understand that it might take some time to get a few things rolling, but come on, this is ridiculous. Two releases in almost a year is pathetic! You’d think they would want to wet our appetites for some new releases and build anticipation. But I guess that would make too much sense.
The loss of the downloads is a real slap in the face too. And for what? I’m like a lot of other Heads, I used to really look forward to Mondays and the new Taper Section post. And now we get some lousy streaming BS? No thanks! I won’t be visiting the Tapers Section anymore, I’ll just start getting my downloads elsewhere, like bt.etree.org. At least there I can get the whole show, and in better quality. Unless, of course, Rhino decides to go after etree next, which I wouldn’t put it past them to do.
But you know what the worst part is? The total lack of communication by Rhino. Thats the thing that really pisses me off. There is absolutely no reason why they can’t communicate with us Heads about why they’re doing what they are. I might even cut ’em some slack if they had good reasons. But the silent treatment is very inconsiderate, and just bad business.
The one thing I’m hoping for is that Rhino is just getting their shit together, and when all the dust settles they will have a very cool surprise for all GD fans. I hope. I guess we’ll find out eventually.
Peace.
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