Wolfgang’s music app is streaming free

What is Wolfgang’s Music App?

Wolfgang’s vault is named after Bill Graham’s collection. A huge warehouse holding Bill Graham’s tapes and memorabilia was sold off to Minnesota businessman William E. Sagan, who went into the business of digitizing the tape collection and selling the digital audio copies of the show, along with memorabilia, on his site WolfgangsVault.com., now Wolfgangs.com.

Difference between Wolfgang’s Vault and Concert Vault:

There is a sister site, ConcertVault.com, where you can listen to Wolfgang’s collection along with other collections gathered over the years. If you get a membership, it works in both places. Here’s where it gets confusing:

Where to listen to Bill “Wolfgang” Graham’s collection:

• Desktop: ConcertVault.com, with the membership.
• Mobile / Tablet website: ConcertVault.com, with the membership.
• Mobile App: Wolfgang’s Music, streaming for free.
  • Apple iTunes
  • Google Play

What you can do for free on the app:

I’ll admit, the App is a bit of a piece of shit, at least on Android, but it’s free and you can hear music, so there’s that. Here’s some more I sorted out while playing with it on my Google Pixel:

• You can stream the music for free on the mobile app
• You can save your favorites and play them back later
• You can play it in the background while working in other apps
• You can create playlists
• You can create a queue of music to stream
• You can navigate between pages and keep listening
• You have basic player controls, but you have to press on the track length line to try and go back within a song. Not very precise, but it can be done
• You can Chromecast stream it, but you have to do it through the Google Home app and cast your device’s screen & audio.

What you can’t do for free on the app:

• You can’t download music to the app
• You can’t play it offline
• You can’t go back the album or artist you’re listening to. You have to go to the Queue to see what’s next or navigate the long-way around via the “Recently Played” by way of the “Favorites.” That’s the quickest way I found back to the album. Then, it doesn’t show you on the album which track is being played. Sounds menial, but when you’re quick browsing to see where you’re at on the album, this is huge. Grrr.
• You can’t click on the articles or anything in the “Browse” section: Now, I don’t know whether or not you can do this with the membership, mostly because it doesn’t give me an error when I click on it. Grrr. Get used to finding something in browse then having to search for it again in “Search.”

Wolfgang’s Music is not without controversy

You can’t really buy a collection of live music and start selling downloads without a bunch of musicians and record companies getting a burr up their ass, especially in this day and age of dwindling music album and track sales. It’s exactly what Wolfgang’s Vault keeps running into over and over and over again.

• Here’s one from The Guardian, March 2017: Owner of Wolfgang’s Vault in legal battle over streaming rights.
• Here’s one from Billboard from May 2015: Wolfgang’s Vault Sued by 26 Music Companies

As Janis Joplin (and Howard Tate) once sang, “Get it while you can.” Who knows how long this is gonna last.

PS: My the best piece of email I got this week.

The best piece of email I got was replies from Jonathan Gould, author of “Otis Redding: An Unfinished Life” regarding some back stories Otis Redding, specifically, exactly where Otis Redding was born. That was awesome.

Hearing Wolfgang’s Vault was going with a free streaming app just as I was considering finally buying into the membership was a close second.

Last updated by Finn at July 21, 2020.