Deadtapes vs Taper's Section
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Deadtapes
Identify the Grateful Dead concert your music tape originated from. Input a sequence of up to three songs, and the app will find shows from 1972-1995 that feature that exact song order.
- Song sequence search
- Grateful Dead show identification
- 1972-1995 show coverage
- Tape origin discovery
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Finds which Grateful Dead show your dead tape was created from. You enter up to three songs, in sequence, that you hear on your tape. It reports which shows have that sequence played at the show. For all shows from 1972 through 1995.
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.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Taper's Section at 90% against Deadtapes's 0%. Taper's Section also leads on rating (4.5 vs 3.0) and update cadence (every 3 months vs every 46 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Taper's Section holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Taper's Section has 39 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of Deadtapes's written reviews are positive against 90% of Taper's Section's.
Deadtapes ships an update every 46 months, Taper's Section every 3 months. Both last shipped on June 1, 2026.
| Parameter | Deadtapes | Taper's Section |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.0 (1 ratings) | 4.5 (39 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | 90.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 39 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 46 months | Every 3 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 26.2 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 55 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Thomas Maher | Franklin Kesler |
Customer experience
Deadtapes
Taper's Section
In-app purchases
Deadtapes
No in-app purchases
Taper's Section
No in-app purchases
