Grateful Dead Kick Off “Largest Tape-Transfer Project”

San Francisco, CA (April 20, 2026)—Live music streaming platform nugs has announced Play Dead, a Grateful Dead-branded app that will present newly transferred, mastered and enhanced live recordings from the band’s legendary vault. Brad Serling, founder and CEO of Nugs.net, described the effort behind the catalog as “the largest tape-transfer project in the history of rock n’ roll.”

“We are pulling tapes off the shelf of the vault and transferring them at their highest resolution to date, and mastering in the studio for the first time,” said Serling. “These tapes were in the room with the band each night and Play Dead will be the official hi-res streaming home of the vault, browsable chronologically in the order the music was performed.”

• Writing on the Wall of Sound: In Search of the Legendary Grateful Dead P.A.

There will be new vault releases every Tuesday, curated by David Lemieux and mastered by David Glasser at Airshow Mastering in Boulder, Colorado

To mark its debut, Play Dead includes 20 previously unreleased shows from the vault, with two new releases every week, offering fans a constantly expanding window into the band’s live evolution.

Discover more great stories—get a free Mix SmartBrief subscription!

“Play Dead is the most complete way we’ve ever been able to share the vault,” said Lemieux, longtime Grateful Dead archivist and legacy manager. “These recordings capture the band’s journey night by night, and bringing them together in chronological order, with newly transferred and mastered audio, gives fans an entirely new way to experience this music. There’s always more to discover in the vault, and I’m excited to share something new every Tuesday.”