Live Music Archive (etree.org)

Quick Links

How do I upload a show to the Live Music Archive (LMA)?

Uploading instructions for the Live Music Archive collections can be found at https://archive.org/download/lmaupload/lmaupload.pdf

Before uploading any show, read the band’s policy notes for this site. Many artists place limitations on their material here, and info is often updated.

We’re excited to help you share new music! To keep things running smoothly, please check if the band already has a collection page, even if you know the band has recently emailed their permission.

Next, be sure that you are logged in as an Internet Archive member. Have the file set on your computer already, correctly prepared and correctly named. Files must be in lossless format (.flac or .shn), from lossless parent source material; we will create the extra “lossy derivative” copies such as mp3 onsite.

What is the Live Music Archive all about?

This audio archive is an online public library of live recordings available for royalty-free, no-cost public downloads. We only host material by trade-friendly artists: those who like the idea of noncommercial distribution of some or all of their live material. Live recordings are a part of our culture and might be lost in 100 years if they’re not archived. We think music matters and want to preserve it for future generations.

The LMA draws strength from the members of etree.org and other online communities of music fans devoted to providing public access to high-quality digital recordings of tradable performances. Typically, recordings are made by the fans. Recordings are preserved in “Lossless” archival compression formats such as Shorten or FLAC (MP3 is not Lossless) for highest quality preservation.

Patrons may download from the LMA with the understanding that the artists still hold their copyrights. All material is strictly noncommercial, both for access here and for any further distribution.

I’m an artist who would like to be included in the Archive, what do I need to do?

We’d love to have you!

Just write to us in English at LMA@archive.org giving some kind of permission for us to archive your shows for public download and noncommercial, royalty-free circulation.

It does not need to be a formally worded declaration, and can come from anyone you feel has the “say-so.” We just need to be clear on how you feel about the project.

We will put relevant quotes onto a new “collection” page (examples) for your performances, along with a link to your official website.

It is necessary for you to email us in order to create a new section. We want to be sure that the go-ahead really is coming from you.

Please do not attempt to create your own collection, or to upload any of the band’s shows, in advance of receiving an emailed confirmation message from curators; such attempts may significantly complicate or delay the curators’ setup process.

You can give as much or as little scope for archiving as you like. Some bands place limits on what can be hosted, and we can attempt to accommodate those.

Archive Curators, volunteer fans who have proven to be in line with the spirit of this archive, will work with you to remove any material that is not in line with your permission.

At the same time you give the go-ahead, feel free to pass along any notes or policy links on your general taping/trading stance as well.

You don’t need to have a formal written or posted policy before inclusion, but we’d like to know how you feel about the topic.

Besides fans sending their copies of your shows, you can also prepare and upload your own live recordings to the Archive, if you like.

If you have any questions about the project, please ask us anytime.

Can bands place restrictions on material to be archived?

Yes. Each band can tailor the extent of their permission to the Archive.

We quote the band’s wishes in the Rights section of the band’s Collection page.

Examples of restrictions that are applicable: no soundboard recordings, exclusion of a specific show due to special guests or commercial release. Other restrictions may be reasonably requested and applied.

Fan contributions are not pre-screened for enforcement as almost all bands allow all recordings. Archive Curators, volunteer fans who have proven to be in line with the spirit of this archive, will work with you to remove any material that does not meet your guidelines. Simply email LMA@archive.org for assistance.

In addition, access to a particular item can be removed if it becomes restricted later (for example, a date newly chosen for commercial release must be removed under some band’s policies).

Bands, please contact us at LMA@archive.org anytime to let us know how we can work with you to make things happen.

Some bands do place limits on the types of sources allowed (such as soundboard recordings), so please check the policy for any given band.

How can I help get bands into the Live Music Archive?

Love a band that isn’t here yet? You can be the one to bring them to the community! Here’s how you can help us grow the Live Music Archive. If you know of a trade-friendly live-performing band that is a good candidate for the Archive, you can initiate contact. When you write, make it clear you are asking about the Live Music Archive at archive.org. Don’t just ask about their general taping/trading stance. We want bands to know what’s up.

Guidelines for Adding an Artist to the Live Music Archive (LMA)

Securing permission for an artist to join the Live Music Archive (LMA) can involve multiple communication pathways. While direct email from the artist or their management is preferred, we recognize and accept several established methods. Below is a structured overview of acceptable authorization channels and requirements.

Direct Email Authorization from Artist or Management

This is the most straightforward and preferred method.

• An authorized representative (e.g., band member or manager) should send a concise email to LMA@archive.org.
• The message must clearly state that the artist (e.g., “The Terrific Band Name”) grants permission for audio recordings of their live performances to be hosted on the Live Music Archive.
• Minor variations in phrasing are acceptable, provided the intent to grant permission is unambiguous.

Inclusion via Carbon Copy (CC) Correspondence

If you’ve already initiated a conversation with the artist, this method can streamline the process.

• Email the artist and include LMA@archive.org in the CC field.
• Request that the band replies to all recipients in the thread to confirm their approval.
• Once written confirmation is received, we will proceed with creating a dedicated collection for their performances.

Authorization via Alternative Digital Communication

We accept permissions granted through various digital platforms, though an email address is preferred for follow-up.

• Acceptable platforms include SMS, Facebook Messenger, Instagram DM, and X (Twitter) DM.
• If permission is granted via these channels, please attempt to obtain the band’s email address so we can send a formal welcome message.
• Forward complete screenshots of the conversation confirming permission to LMA@archive.org.

Requirement for Specific and Explicit Permission

General permission to record a performance is not sufficient. The band’s authorization must explicitly allow one or more of the following:

• Sharing and distribution on archive.org
• Creation of a dedicated page for the band on the Live Music Archive
• Establishment of a collection for the band’s performances on the Live Music Archive

Final Notes

While submission circumstances may vary, the core requirement remains: clear, written, and explicit permission. We look forward to collaborating with you and welcoming new artists into the LMA community

If you are hesitant to make contact yourself, you can mention the band to Archive admins (send email to LMA@archive.org) and they can try a contact as time permits. To help out, supply any contact or policy info you may already know about the band.

Can I remove an item I uploaded?

Yes, uploaders can remove items they have uploaded. Make sure you are logged in before starting the steps shown at the link:
https://help.archive.org/help/removing-your-item-pages-from-archive-org/

If you need assistance, please reach out the LMA admin team at LMA@archive.org.

How do I search for an artist, or by date of the concerts?

The best way is to go to our Live Music Archive collection at https://archive.org/details/etree.

You can use the search bar at the top of the collection to find a specific artist. Type in the name you would like to search. For example, Widespread Panic, in the Search box and hit Enter.

You can also see the Media Type, Year, Creator, Subject, Collection, and other caret type selections on the left side.

You can use the sort bar selections to change your view

• ascending/descending order
• sort criteria (Note: Date published is the concert date)
• preferred view – tile (small images), list, compact list

You can use the sort bar or the carets on the left side to narrow your search – perhaps you want to search by a specific venue. You can enter the venue name in the Search bar at the top of the collection. Or a specific date – use this format: date=2007-10-31*

Search is a powerful tool with many options, including boolean operators and other advanced search options and outputs. Check out these general FAQs on using search on the Internet Archive.

Why is a .txt file required?

Think of the .txt file as the ‘ID card’ for your show. It helps our system automatically name your tracks and create your playlist. To ensure our tools can read it, please save it as a Plain Text (.txt) file. (Formats like Word or PDF are great for reading, but they have extra code that confuses our uploader!) Additionally, the .txt file is associated with the audio files and allows archivists to have reference information alongside the audio files.

Should I upload checksum files like MD5 or ffp?

If you have fingerprint or checksum files, they can be included with your uploads, but they are not required or verified. Fingerprints or checksum files are welcomed and can assist archivists to verify the archival integrity of the file set.

Can I upload concert videos?

At this time, video uploads to the LMA are not recommended nor supported. For concert videos, we recommend checking out the Community Video collection instead.

There’s no set list for this show, or, the set list does not match up with the number of files. Should I submit an error report?

There has been an increasing number of shows uploaded to the Live Music collection without setlist information, or the setlist was not properly matched to the files.

When you notice a recording like this, please email us LMA@archive.org only if you have an updated setlist, or you are able to match the files up correctly.

We would prefer that you do not submit error reports letting us know that there is no set list — tracking down set lists for every concert and matching them up to the recordings is a monumental task that has grown beyond the capabilities of the small group of Archive.org admins.

We would like fans that are familiar with each artist’s material to help us with this project — in your email, please give us specific instructions on what changes to make and we will do so.

I have a different source for a show that is already in the archive, should I upload it anyway?

Yes! In keeping with the nature of this Archive, it is appropriate for multiple sources of the same show to be available for download.

When you upload the new source, be sure to name the source in the show’s top-level folder to avoid confusion.

Do you provide an RSS feed of new updates to the LMA?

Indeed! The URL of the feed is:

http://www.archive.org/services/collection-rss.php?mediatype=etree&collection=etree

Or you can use the RSS feed link on the LMA main page or on individual artists’ pages by clicking on the RSS icon in the upper right corner of the page.

You can add the entire LMA or individual artists’ RSS Feeds into a browser extension like RSS Feed Reader (“Feeder”) (available for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge as of April 2026).

What does the “Transferred by” field mean?

This field indicates the person who did the original DAT/MD/Cassette to WAV conversion.

Also, note that in the case of recordings made directly to laptops, there is no transfer.

Where can I find other recordings by [trade-friendly band] that aren’t in the collection?

If the artist is OK with Internet trading, you may be able to find downloadable recordings through http://bt.etree.org or https://www.shnflac.net/.

The Live Music Archive also has a general collection, Taper’s Section at the Live Music Archive, where taper friendly recordings may be available, in a less structured (ie, no artist collections) manner. Link to Taper’s Section: https://archive.org/details/taperssection.

Also, check https://etreedb.org to find people who have copies of shows and who may be willing to trade.

Lastly, you can check out a band’s own fan forums, Facebook groups, reddit communities, and mailing lists. Good luck!

What file formats are accepted for contributions to the Live Music Archive?

Currently, the Live Music Archive will only accept lossless audio files in these formats: flac, aiff, wav or shn. Please do not upload only mp3 files as the source files. Youtube rips, even if saved in a lossless format like FLAC, are not lossless and not allowed.

Do not upload the lossy files (MP3 or OGG) next to your lossless format files. The derive task creates those automatically, provided that the contributor agrees to have them available. This ensures that all the files here have uniform quality options selected.

Please follow etree.org’s Seeding Guidelines when preparing your contributions for addition to the collection.

Pay particular attention to the Naming Standards section. A well-named identifier helps patrons find your show in our large collection.

A well-named set of files allows files to be listed in the proper order at the site and allows patrons to listen to them in the proper order, either streaming or on CD.

Using special characters in file names – potential issues

Using special characters in the file names, such as “&” and “>”, has the potential to cause issues down the road.

In general, the system does not object to the special characters in file names and will happily accept them, process them, and play them. The issue arises if an uploader needs to rename or delete the file after uploading. The system will not allow you to delete the individual file or rename the file. We admins have no mechanism to assist if this occurs and the only option is to delete the entire item and start over. So, it is better to avoid using special characters altogether.

We don’t keep a list of characters that cause issues – the best advice we can give is if you need to use the shift key to type the character (other than uppercase letters), don’t use it. There are exceptions to this, but as a general rule of thumb, this is the best guidance we can give you. This most frequently comes up when someone is naming their files including the song title in the file name and then want to update the file name if there is a set list correction. Another issue that comes up from time to time is with a band like Dead & Company where even using etree naming, the taper uses d&c as the band abbreviation instead of dnc or deadco or dc.

Best advice from the LMA admin team is to only use “.” (period), “-” (dash), and “_” (underscore) as non alphanumeric characters in your filenames. Others may work, but this is a nice simple list that should cover most scenarios you need.

I like adding concerts. Do you have a preference on the way I put in information?

Yes, here are some guidelines that will help us maintain good records for each concert.

• Please include information about the show, especially the setlist, in the description field.
• Do not include HTML in the source and lineage fields.
• Do not repeat information in the notes fields (such as source information, or the number of discs). Only include information in the notes fields that are not already in any other field.
• Do not fill in an unknown field with questions marks or N/A – just leave them blank. The exception to this guideline is the venue, setlist and source fields (which are mandatory) – in the event that this information is not known, simply write “unknown”.
• The checksum field is not required – the uploader does not need to copy/paste the checksums into this field. Including the fingerprints or checksums as a file is preferred.

Please check the LMA upload instructions for more best practices.

What type of recordings are allowed on the Live Music Archive?

Non-commercial lossless audio recordings by artists that have given permission for an LMA collection to be created are allowed as long as they meet the guidelines set forth in the policy notes in the artist’s collection.

Any commercial recordings put out by the artist, either by download or physical media, are not allowed. This restriction applies to the actual commercial recording. Alternate audience recordings may be subject to restriction depending on the artist. Please check the artist’s policy notes before uploading.

Nugs downloads or stream rips (both audio and video), whether paid or free, are NOT allowed.

Youtube rips are lossy and not allowed. If they are audience recordings, please try to source the original audience recording and upload the lossless filed.

I want to include an image with my upload for a cover photo, how do I do that?

Including an appropriately sized image file with the upload, along with the audio and other files, will allow the system to use that image as the cover photo in show listings, search results, and the streaming player. We will discuss some best practices below.

What is an appropriate size for an image?
Today’s modern electronics can create high resolution images. With high resolution comes large file sizes. Large file sizes can lead to slow page loading so decreasing the file size is a best practice. Uploaders should try to resize the image before it is uploaded it if it is more than 500kB in size. In Windows, the basic Paint utility is the easiest. Open the image in Paint and choose Resize. Change the size “By:” field to Pixels and then change the largest field below it to no more than 1000 pixels. Usually 800 is sufficient as well. Save the image. It will be a much smaller file size which means it will display more efficiently without impacting the visual experience on the web page.

Multiple images included with the upload
If the uploader includes more than one image with the upload, the first image using the alphanumeric file name will be used as the tile image. The uploader can rename the preferred image so it is alphanumerically first, perhaps adding “1_” to the beginning of the file name.

File name mismatch with actual image type
In some cases, files are saved with a .JPG extension (the standard extension for a JPEG image file), but the image is not an actual JPEG. This could occur because where the file was sources had it mislabeled, or sometimes the user is trying to use a WEBP (a newish web image format) or HEIC (the newish Apple image format). In some cases, users may be simply renaming the file from imagename.webp or imagename.heic to imagename.jpg. In most cases, browsers don’t really care and will display the image anyway. This includes the Internet Archive. However, the derive function is a bit more particular and can see by the file headers that a file named .JPG is not actually a JPEG and will halt the derive. This requires one of the LMA admins to either reach out to the user to get them to replace the image with an actual JPG file, or to download the faux JPG, convert it to an actual JPG, replace the JPG, and restart the derive. There are many tools an uploader can use to convert the image. In Windows, the basic Paint utility is the easiest. Simply open the offending image in Paint. If the image is overly large, you may want to resize it to a maximum dimension of no more than 1000 pixels in any direction. To convert the image, simply “Save As”, choose JPG, and save/resave the file. This will rewrite the file headers to the match the file format.

My upload was interrupted, do I need to start over?

If your upload is interrupted due to a lost connection or system error, you do not need to start over. The item is created as soon as the first file is uploaded. To finish, simply return to the item and add the remaining files.

Once you locate your item, you can add missing FLAC or other files by clicking the “Edit” link on the left side under the blue microphone while logged in. On the following page, select “Change the files” to upload the additional content.

If you cannot find the URL for your item, you can locate the item by clicking your username at the top of the screen and selecting “My uploads.” If it does not appear there, check the “Contribution center” at the following link:

https://archive.org/catalog.php?history=1&justme=1

The item identifier should be listed on the left side under your recent tasks.

I’m receiving an error message while uploading, what do I do?

From time to time, an uploader may get an upload error while uploading to the LMA. Below are some of the error messages and the reasons for the error.

403 error:
Almost all 403 errors are due to either the artist not having a collection set up, typing out the artist name rather than select it from the dropdown list, or inadvertently adding a character to the collection field on the upload screen. The uploader must select the artist from the list. Type just enough to narrow the selection to where the artist name can be seen in the list and click on the name. If the artist name is short and the uploader must type the full name to view it in the list, the uploader must still select the artist from the list. If the artist is not in the dropdown list, it usually means the artist does not have a collection set up yet. If it is a new artist, please wait at least 24 hours before attempting to upload a show. If the uplaoder receives a 403 error, there is a blue details link. If you click on details, you will generally see a message that says, “You lack sufficient privileges to write to those collections.” It is not actually a privileges issue, but rather a data issue regarding the collection. Start over and try to be very careful when selecting the artist and completing the information on the upload page.

500 Network error – Slow down:
A “Slow down” error is generally an indication that the server is overloaded and the job queue is overloaded to the maximum. So, it is us, not the uploader, and the uploader will simply have to try again later.

500 Network error – Spam:
Occasionally, an upload error message identifies the upload as spam. Generally, this means the spam screening tool sees something in the description box that is spammy. Generally, the error message gives instructions to email info@ archive dot org and include the number in the message. There is no harm in doing so, but do not expect a rapid fix, if any. If the uploader sends the information to us at the LMA support team, there is nothing we can do. The suggestion we have is to simplify the information in the description box, maybe only the setlist. The description can be edited later when the upload is successful.

Network error – resume uploading:
We see two reasons for this generic error. First, the uploader temporarily loses their internet connection or wifi connection. Clicking resume usually clears this up. If not, please check your local connections.

Another cause of this network issue can be the result of a file changing after the uploader has already selected the file. This most often occurs with the info .txt file being saved after a small change is made. Please see https://help.archive.org/help/live-music-archive-etree-org/#interrupted for how to resume an upload if the uploader needs to stop the upload and restart because of a changed file.

There are other uploading error messages the uploader might receive, but these are the main occurrences. Email us at LMA@archive.org if you need assistance.

I changed my email and now I cannot see any of my uploads in My Uploads page.

Please keep the email address associated with your Internet Archive account up to date. This allows you to get notifications if someone leaves a review or if the admins need to reach out to you. That yahoo address from 18 years ago that you forgot the login to isn’t going to be very helpful. Maybe some folks think the Internet Archive is going to spam them. I assure you they are not. You may get a handful of emails a year and if it really bothers you, unsubscribe works. Please respond to the admins when they email you. We are just trying to make sure everything runs smoothly and an email or two every few years is not a burden for anyone.

If you update the email address on your account, your previous uploads get assigned to “Unknown” since uploads are tied to your email address at the time of the upload and not your username. This is easily fixed by an admin – just shoot us an email at LMA@archive.org with the old and new email address.

Why are my tracks playing out of order in the streaming player?

Tracks are played in strict alphanumeric order of the filenames. What are some of the causes of tracks playing out of order? Generally, using etree naming conventions prevents this, but there are couple of potential issues one can run into. What is etree naming convention? In short the filenames are structured in the format of (band abbrev) (show date in yyyy-mm-dd format) (set number (optional)) (track number in two digit format). It would look something like goose2024-02-18s1t04.flac.

Why do people still use etree naming formats? Because it works.

Some issues that may cause tracks playing out of order:

The filenames are the song titles and contain no track numbers

If you are a user that prefers to name your tracks with the song titles, each track must start with the track number. If you have less than 99 tracks, each track must be represented by a two digit track number, so “01” instead of just “1”. If you have 100 or more tracks, use 3 digits, ie. “001”. So, instead of just “Sugar Magnolia.flac” as the filename, use “01 Sugar Magnolia.flac”.

But I used etree naming format and the songs are still out of order

There are at least a couple of scenarios that will cause the songs to be out of order.

First, some filenames may be different case than others. The system will see goose2024-02-17t01.flac differently than Goose2024-02-17t01.flac (note the first character is lowercase vs. uppercase). The system will sort all the lowercases first and then the uppercases after. If you make the case the same on all the files, the system will sort them correctly.

Second, track numbers in the filenames do not contain a leading zero if less than 10. Why is this important? The system will sort t1 first but then sort t10, t11, t12, etc. before it gets to t2. Make sure to use t01, t02, etc. for your track numbers less than 10.

If you make one of these mistakes, you do not need to change every file type that was derived for the file, only the original that you uploaded (ie, the FLAC file). While logged in, click on Edit on the left side under the blue microphone. On the next page, choose Change the files. Once you get to the file manager, select the file and right mouse click to get the menu. Select rename and rename the file. Again, you only need to change the FLAC files that you uploaded (assuming you uploaded FLAC files.)

Where can I see the rest of the ‘Most Downloaded Items’ in the Live Music Archive?

To view the entire Live Music Archive (everything in the “etree collection”) sorted by “Most Downloaded Items” go to this link:

https://archive.org/search?query=collection%3Aetree+AND+NOT+mediatype%3Acollection&sort=-downloads

And here’s one that lists everything but the Grateful Dead (like the one on the LMA front page):

https://archive.org/search?query=collection%3Aetree+AND+NOT+mediatype%3Acollection+AND+NOT+collection%3AGratefulDead&sort=-downloads

How can I add a logo to my collection page?

The images or text content of Live Music Archive collection pages can only be changed by an Internet Archive admin. Please email an image to the Live Music Archive admins at LMA@archive.org. Preferred format is JPG and square images work best.

How are view counts calculated?

For this definition see view section at https://help.archive.org/help/what-is-a-view/.

What are the options for downloading a full recording?

If you would like to download files rather than stream them online, there are a number of download options on the right side of the show page. Click the down arrow next to the type of files you want to download.

Once you open the type of files you want to download, you will get an option to download a ZIP file of all of the files of that file type.

You can choose to download the files or if you select an individual file, you can download it by using right mouse click, Save As, in your browser.

Lossless: A ZIP file containing FLAC files (or Shorten for older uploads). Unlike formats like MP3, lossless formats are true to the original – there is no degradation in quality.

VBR MP3: A ZIP file containing MP3 files encoded with a variable bit rate to deliver high quality at roughly 160 kilobits per second.

All Original files: If you want to download the original lossless files along with the info text file and fingerprints or other checksums, select the “Original” link in the lower right of the Download Options section. This will create a ZIP of all the original files for downloading.

Note: Some shows have restrictions placed on downloading by the artist and may be available only as streaming.

How do I make corrections to shows?

Sometimes people make typos or other mistakes on uploads, or leave gaps in info that can be filled in later. Here is the method for uploaders to make corrections on shows they have uploaded:

If you uploaded the show, you can make the changes to the details page yourself. Make sure you are logged in as the user who uploaded the show and go to the details page of the show you are trying edit. Click on the “edit” link on the left side below the blue microphone.

On the next page, there are two options – Change the information or Change the files.

Using the “change the information” link, the uploader will be able to edit the show details including venue, location, source, description, etc. Not all fields are editable by the uploader. Any field with the text in grey cannot be edited by the uploader, such as Title, Creator, Collection. Also, the identifier (or URL) cannot be changed by the uploader. If these fields need to be changed, contact LMA@archive.org. Once the changes are made, the uploader should scroll to the bottom of the Metadata editor page and click the blue Submit button.

Using the “change the files” link, the uploader can add files, delete files, rename files, etc. Changes only need to be made to the original files (in black) as the system will rederive the derivative files (ie, mp3 files). Right mouse click brings up a menu for changing the files. To add files, click the Add a file blue button at the top. Submit the changes once completed.

If you have a setlist for a show, or corrections to a setlist, please check out this FAQ.

If you did not upload the show, please email the admins (LMA@archive.org), and state precisely what the problem with that particular show is, including a link to the show in question.