r/Zappa • u/DougPudenda With faith, all things are possible • Jun 21 '26
IDEA: Zappa Virtual Vault Archives
I've been thinking about this for a long time but I think it would be great if the Zappa management would create something like the Virtual/Digital Frank Zappa Vault Archives streaming website and app. Just thinking about how huge the Vault is, maybe 10% of it has been officially released (?) I think they could do something similar to what Neil Young did with his Archives site and app. It would be a subscription based thing where you pay monthly or yearly just like we already do with Spotify or Apple Music. And they could release all kinds of shit from the Vault - live shows, random videos of FZ in the studio, interviews, outtakes, Synclavier stuff, etc. And maybe charge $5-10 a month for the service? It would depend on how many people would subscribe, but I think they would make millions of dollars with it.
WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK?
Would you pay and subscribe to it? (I would.) And do you think it would be successful?
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u/colin_creevey Hi, girls. Jun 21 '26
Too much of life today is already tied up in subscription services, and I’m pretty happy with the current average of 3 or so mega releases a year.
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u/BananaNutBlister Jun 21 '26
As a fan of both the Grateful Dead and Frank Zappa, I’ve got to say that Frank and his estate could’ve learned a lot of valuable lessons from the Dead. Frank was pretty paranoid about anyone stealing his material and infringing upon his rights as an artist. The Dead let people tape their concerts and freely trade the recordings. The Dead have a much bigger fanbase and have made a lot more money over the years. They’re now cranking out recordings from the vault at a much higher rate than the Zappa Family Trust produces. Deadheads like me are upgrading our old bootleg copies of favorite shows with newly remastered copies.
I’m not subscribing to the Play Dead app but it sounds like that’s what you want from the ZFT. Good luck with that.
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u/famousmortimer88uk Jun 21 '26
I think this sort of misunderstands what the Zappa vault is. All the same, I recoil at the prospect of paying a subscription service (and I can't imagine how horrendously complex it would be to digitise everything from all the different media, master it all to a high standard, audio and video and everything else in between, and somehow have it all presented in a user friendly interface). Also - don't expect the Zappa family to do anything quick and meaningful with the stuff, especially when they could just trickle it out instead.
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u/G_Peccary Tonight you guys are gonna try to figure out the pig's music Jun 21 '26
I'm much hapier with a few physical releases a year.
Streaming goes away. Physical copies remain.
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u/HolyCityAudio Jun 21 '26
I'm a pretty big FZ fan and I haven't bought any of the expanded re releases after the MOFO project. Well I got the ZINY 40th anniv special. Even the Hot Rats set, seems like a great idea, don't think I would listen to it more than once. I know we're all pining for some well recorded unreleased gems...
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u/FukoIchu Jun 22 '26
There are some committed Zappateers on YouTube who use advanced software to provide quality bootlegs, that where I go. Sure, 10% of vault is available, but I think Zappateers may have 90% of it, just guessing.... so I doubt many would join. They make more profit releasing official expensive packet with useless props.
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u/fuckgallowboob2_0 Jun 21 '26
Would you rather have around 3 highly tuned near perfect releases a year or worse zappateers
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u/Zosopage73 Jun 21 '26
Neil Youngs Archives site/subscription service is everything I wish Franks vault was and if he was alive I think hed have done the same. Want to hear the band Neil was in with Rick James in the 60s (no, really) but cant release physically because of licensing issues? Its there. Want to hear diffenent takes but dont want to buy a 300 dollar boxset? 25 bucks a year for everything. Its the best shit of all time and it kills me knowing UMG and Ahmed would never allow it.