A Grateful Dead Analysis: The Relationship Between Concert and Listening Behavior

TL;DR

This study compares Grateful Dead concert set lists with online listening data, revealing a strong correlation and highlighting unique fan behaviors and band characteristics long after the band's end.

Contribution

It provides a novel comparative analysis between concert set lists and digital listening patterns, uncovering long-term fan engagement and band-song relationships.

Findings

Strong correlation between concert set lists and online listening habits

Identification of outlier songs revealing band and fan dynamics

Insights into long-term fan engagement post-band dissolution

Abstract

The Grateful Dead were an American band that was born out of the San Francisco, California psychedelic movement of the 1960s. The band played music together from 1965 to 1995 and is well known for concert performances containing extended improvisations and long and unique set lists. This article presents a comparative analysis between 1,590 of the Grateful Dead's concert set lists from 1972 to 1995 and 2,616,990 last.fm Grateful Dead listening events from August 2005 to October 2007. While there is a strong correlation between how songs were played in concert and how they are listened to by last.fm members, the outlying songs in this trend identify interesting aspects of the band and their fans 10 years after the band's dissolution.