In 1973, the Grateful Dead

Grateful Dead

The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...

 established their own record label

Record label

In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

, Grateful Dead Records. The band released several vinyl record LPs on this label in the mid-1970s, including Wake of the Flood

Wake of the Flood

Wake of the Flood is the sixth studio album by the Grateful Dead. It was recorded between August 4 and September 1, 1973 and originally released on October 15, 1973. It was the first release under the band's own label, Grateful Dead Records, after fulfilling their contract with Warner Bros. Records...

in 1973, From the Mars Hotel in 1974, Blues for Allah

Blues for Allah

Blues for Allah is the eighth studio album by the Grateful Dead. It was recorded between February 27 and May 7, 1975 and originally released on September 1, 1975. It was the third release under the band's own label, Grateful Dead Records, after fulfilling their contract with Warner Bros...

in 1975, and a live double album

Double album

A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....

, Steal Your Face

Steal Your Face

Steal Your Face is a live double album by the Grateful Dead, released in June 1976. The album was recorded live in concert between October 16 and October 20, 1974 at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom as part of the band's then-"farewell run"....

, in 1976, among others. Album distribution was negotiated and contracted by the band's label through United Artists Records

United Artists Records

United Artists Records was a record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 initially to distribute records of its movie soundtracks, though it soon branched out into recording music of a number of different genres.-History:...

. Round Records, a secondary label, was used to release solo albums by members of the band.

Grateful Dead Records

Initially, the band established their own label ostensibly to exercise more control over artistic content and other choices in and out of the studio. In a letter mailed to fans, they announced their plans to establish their own label, going so far as to comment that one of their fantasies included distributing their albums via ice cream trucks outside concert venues during their concerts, and, beginning with Wake of the Flood, hoped to grasp control of all aspects of recording and distribution of their own records. In addition, they hoped that the fans would act "as part of our eyes, ears and feet on the ground to keep the scene straight locally." However, Grateful Dead Records resulted in a traditional business venture along the same routine as was usual. After a few years, the added stress of handling business matters took its toll, and the bandmates opted out of operating the label and signed with Arista Records

Arista Records

Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...

 in 1977. The Grateful Dead and Round labels were deactivated shortly thereafter. Grateful Dead Records was revived in the 1990s for CD reissues of non-major-label and authorized concert bootleg

Bootleg recording

A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...

releases.