The information comes mostly from postings by Lee Silverman <lee@www.phish.net>, Charlie Dirksen, and Jeff Maggard.

Purpose: A Tape Tree is a way of distributing copies of a tape of live Phish (not copies of Phish's commercial releases) hierarchically, using the best decks first, to get tape to more people with fewer generations and less wear on tape heads.

Method: A tape tree happens when someone (we'll call him Smitty) posts to the Phish.Net (or, for that matter, to any of the other music fan-based groups online) saying that he's running a tape tree of a tape that a lot of other people may want. In that announcement post, Smitty includes a form for people to fill out and email back to him. (Most of the info on these forms gets used, so always fill out the whole thing.) The announcement will also include pertinent information about the tape -- including primarily the date, venue, setlist, and source, and, of course, the artist(s) if not Phish -- as well as about the tree -- including the deadline for signing up for a tree. (Don't expect to be added after a deadline; for trees to run smoothly, everyone needs to fulfill their roles efficiently, and that starts with signing up promptly.) ... After the deadline (as little as one week after the announcement, perhaps as late as two months later), Smitty compiles all of the signups into a tree structure, which outlines how the tree will run and which participants have which relationships and responsibilities. Basically, the person running (aka administrating) the tree makes copies for five people, each of them make copies for five people, etcetera. (Notes: Tree roles are separate; you could administrate a tree without making any copies, if someone else is the root. Not everyone makes five copies, although priority may go to those willing to make 4 or 5 rather than 2 or 3. Alternative structrues include tape bushes (a very small number makes copies for a very larger number, without extensive branching structures), weeds (something new or rare spreads like wildfire without any structure at all), and vines (the structrue is long and horizontal rather than successive branching at each level)

Play your role! If you are on a tree you have certain responsibilities (besides signing up by the deadline). The first is to get the tapes, either through a trade with your parent (the person above you in the tree structure) or by sending that person blanks and postage. You may also have the responsibility to copy the tapes for a certain number of other people (making you a parent and those people your children or leaves), who may either trade with you or send blanks and postage. (Whether you send blanks or trade generally has little to do with your placement within the tree.) If you are unable to find your parent or any of your leaves, contact the tree administrator; also, contact the tree administrator when you have finished making tapes for all of your leaves, so that the administrator can keep tabs on how the tree is doing and whether any changes in the structure are necessary to resolve "orphaned" branches (i.e. groups of leaves whose parents have not fulfilled their responsibilities.)

Expect problems! Keep in mind that, unfortunately, many trees have been lost into the cyberspace abyss, because folks haven't fulfilled their roles, which sucks. PLEASE keep a copy of the entire tree structure when it gets posted. Don't expect connections to get setup privately; get em going from all sides ASAP!! Expect that there may be some problems, and that no tree will run perfectly smoothly, then be ready to patch lost branches to parents with a small burden. Running a tree does involve some time, not only to create the tree but to make tapes for the branches, settle any problems that arise, deal with orphaned leaves, etc. Remember, there is a difference between the person administrating, the person rooting, and the person seeding the tree. Everyone on the tree is responsible for his section, and may at some point be asked to help out with stragglers, orphans, and late comers; there is no pressure, but there will be requests.

Seeding trees: If you have a great tape(s) but not the experience, time, understanding, or interest to run a tree, you could seed your tapes to someone who is ready to run the tree (making that person a root of the tree rather than you). Just post a note to the Phish.Net (send email to phish@phish.net) with the subject heading "Need Admin for <date> tree".

Operation Everyshow is an impressive effort to tree every Phish show ever played. Despite some criticism that few leaves actually get their tapes (and you should be prepared that all tape trees, like any effort among this many people, has it's share of problems), tons of tapes have been distributed this way, and founder/organizer James Gray <fierce@monad.net> deserves lots of thanks and support!

See also: tape weed, bush, vine; also, shrubs.