# Live Music Archive vs DeadSpread

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: DeadSpread at none against Live Music Archive's 5. Live Music Archive's advantage is ratings volume (1.8K vs 103). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Live Music Archive sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. DeadSpread asks for nothing beyond the download.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Live Music Archive against 4.8 for DeadSpread. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Live Music Archive has 1.8K ratings behind it against 103, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 95% of Live Music Archive's written reviews are positive against 90% of DeadSpread's.

Live Music Archive ships an update every 9 days, DeadSpread weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Live Music Archive | DeadSpread |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.9 (1.8K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/live-music-archive/id1453343128/reviews)** | [4.8 (103 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/deadspread/id1523844467/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **1.8K** | 103 |
| Positive reviews | **94.9% of reviews** | 90.5% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days | **Weekly** |
| Monetization | **Free** | Ad-supported |
| Size | 93 MB | 29 MB |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | **15.1** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | [Astral Engineering LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1148473252) | [Walter Sanders](https://appshunter.io/developer/1512990324) |

## What reviewers say

### Live Music Archive

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/live-music-archive/id1453343128)

Stream a vast collection of live concert recordings from the Internet Archive and Phish.in. Discover music by artist, venue, or date, and enjoy features like offline playback, cross-device syncing, and a visualizer.

**Highlights:** Massive live music library, Search by artist, venue, date, Offline playback, Cross-device syncing, CarPlay integration, Concert visualizer, Lossless audio support

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Safari Extension, Siri integration, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (5)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Nice Tip | $0.99 | one-time |
| Generous Tip | $2.99 | one-time |
| Amazing Tip | $4.99 | one-time |
| Wonderful Tip | $9.99 | one-time |
| Astronomical Tip | $19.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Great app
- 👍 Fantastic library
- 🚀 Easy to use
- 👍 Awesome interface
- 🚀 Smooth playback

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional crashes or unavailability
- 🔋 Drains battery quickly
- 🔍 Missing some newer shows
- 🔍 Limited playlist functionality
- 🔍 No login or review features

**Reported bugs**

- Crashes on launch for some users
- Buggy offline download feature
- Incompatibility with older devices

**Requested features**

- Add Carplay support
- Implement an equalizer
- Allow playlist creation
- Add login and review functionality


### DeadSpread

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/deadspread/id1523844467)

Access and stream a vast collection of live concert recordings from bands like the Grateful Dead and Widespread Panic. Download your favorite shows to enjoy offline. Discover music from various other jam bands.

**Highlights:** Stream live concert recordings, Download shows for offline playback, Access archive.org content, Discover Widespread Panic shows, Explore other jam band artists

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Live Music Archive free?

Live Music Archive is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is DeadSpread free?

DeadSpread is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Live Music Archive or DeadSpread?

Live Music Archive is rated higher. Live Music Archive averages 4.9 out of 5 from 1.8K ratings, while DeadSpread averages 4.8 from 103 ratings.

### Do Live Music Archive or DeadSpread have ads?

Neither Live Music Archive nor DeadSpread shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Live Music Archive or DeadSpread?

Live Music Archive ships an update every 9 days, and DeadSpread weekly. Most recently, Live Music Archive was updated on November 11, 2026 and DeadSpread on November 6, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*