Taper's Section vs Play Dead
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Taper's Section
Access a vast library of live music recordings from archive.org. Stream, save, and organize your favorite shows, build playlists, and enjoy offline listening. Features background playback and powerful search capabilities.
- Stream live music from archive.org
- Save favorite bands and shows
- Background streaming
- Offline listening
- Powerful search and filtering
- Build and share playlists
- Manage play queue
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Taper's Section gives you access to the Live Music Archive from archive.org in the palm of your hand. * Stream your favorite shows from over 5,000 bands * Save your favorite bands and shows for quick access * Easily access your recently played shows * Background streaming with Bluetooth and AirPlay compatibility * Powerful search and filtering options * Build playlists and share them with your friends * Build a play queue, reorder your queue, and make it a new playlist * Offline listening - save your data plan while listening to your downloaded shows while away from WiFi.
Play Dead
Access a vast library of officially remastered live Grateful Dead concert recordings. Discover previously unreleased shows every week, including rare CD-only releases now available in high-resolution audio. Listen across your devices with seamless playback.
- Official Grateful Dead live recordings
- Hi-res remastered audio
- Exclusive 'Dead Drops' weekly
- CD-only releases now streaming
- Vault organized by year
- Cross-device listening
- Apple CarPlay support
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Play Dead is the official Grateful Dead streaming app, offering unprecedented hi-res access to the Grateful Dead Vault of live recordings. For the first time, the band’s live legacy is brought together in a single official streaming service, with newly transferred and mastered recordings from the original sources. Previously unreleased shows - called Dead Drops - will be available every Tuesday, augmenting the catalog of official live Grateful Dead releases, many of which have never been available on any streaming service. The Vault Unlocked Exclusive Hi-Res Recordings Access new high resolution transfers, mastered for the first time and available exclusively on Play Dead. Dead Drops Every Tuesday Previously unreleased recordings added, every Tuesday, curated by Grateful Dead archivist and legacy manager David Lemieux, mastered for the first time by David Glasser. CD-Only Releases, Now Streaming Shows previously available only on CD from box sets and Dave’s Picks are now streaming for the first time -only on Play Dead- in higher-than-CD-quality. The Vault by Year Live recordings are presented in order of performance date for the first time in the band’s history. Play Dead brings together three decades of live recordings into a single, evolving app designed for both longtime Dead Heads and those who just got on the bus. Listen Anywhere Listen and resume listening across devices, including Apple CarPlay. Subscription Subscriptions available starting at $9.99/month or $99.99/year. Official Access to the Grateful Dead Vault Created for Grateful Dead Productions and Rhino Entertainment, longtime stewards of the Grateful Dead catalog. Built by nugs, the leading platform for live music. For nugs Subscribers Play Dead is also available as an add-on to nugs. PlayDead Payment and Auto-Renewal Terms: Play Dead offers auto-renewing monthly and annual subscriptions to stream music from the Play Dead catalog. Two subscription types are available, monthly (30 days) and annual (365 days). All subscriptions auto-renew. A Play Dead monthly subscription is $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year for new users. Plans auto-renew at $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year after the first year. Payment will be charged to the iTunes Account at the time of your purchase. Subscriptions automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Accounts will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the users Account Settings after purchase. Terms of Use at http://nugs.net/terms.aspx Privacy Policy at http://nugs.net/privacy.aspx
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Taper's Section at none against Play Dead's 2. Taper's Section also leads on review sentiment (90% vs 61%) and device support (3 vs 1). Play Dead's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 3 months) and chart position (#101 vs unranked). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Play Dead sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Taper's Section asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Taper's Section against 4.4 for Play Dead. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 39 and 77 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 90% of Taper's Section's written reviews are positive against 61% of Play Dead's.
Taper's Section ships an update every 3 months, Play Dead monthly. The most recent releases landed on June 1, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Taper's Section | Play Dead |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (39 ratings) — better | 4.4 (77 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 90.0% of reviews — better | 61.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 39 | 77 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | — | #101 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 55 MB | 85 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Franklin Kesler | nugs.net enterprises, LLC |
Customer experience
Taper's Section
Play Dead
In-app purchases
Taper's Section
No in-app purchases
Play Dead
- Monthly$9.991 Month
- Yearly$99.991 Year









