Rather than prevent their audience from taping their concerts, as every other band did, the Grateful Dead set it free and encouraged tapers. They even designated special areas for tapers to set up their equipment when the forest of microphones grew so thick that sight lines were spoiled. Hence, they sparked a revolution. You'd think giving their music away would have dampened their success; instead, the freebies propagated it. Even though people could get the Grateful Dead product for free, the band found itself playing in larger and larger stadiums as the fan base swelled and album sales accelerated: 19 gold albums, six platinum, and four multiplatinum.
