The Day The Music Burned

[mercalia]

I didnt know about this calamity in 2008 at Universal Music Group in the USA

Eleven years ago this month, a fire ripped through a part of Universal Studios Hollywood.

At the time, the company said that the blaze had destroyed the theme park’s “King Kong” attraction and a video vault that contained only copies of old works.

But, according to an article published on Tuesday by The New York Times Magazine, the fire also tore through an archive housing treasured audio recordings, amounting to what the piece described as “the biggest disaster in the history of the music business.”

In a confidential report in 2009, Universal Music Group estimated the loss at about 500,000 song titles.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/11/us/m ... ule=inline

The full story

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/11/maga ... ule=inline

[Cugel]

I didnt know about this calamity in 2008 at Universal Music Group in the USA

music.JPG
Eleven years ago this month, a fire ripped through a part of Universal Studios Hollywood.

At the time, the company said that the blaze had destroyed the theme park’s “King Kong” attraction and a video vault that contained only copies of old works.

But, according to an article published on Tuesday by The New York Times Magazine, the fire also tore through an archive housing treasured audio recordings, amounting to what the piece described as “the biggest disaster in the history of the music business.”

In a confidential report in 2009, Universal Music Group estimated the loss at about 500,000 song titles.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/11/us/m ... ule=inline

The full story

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/11/maga ... ule=inline

Hmmmm.

I can't say I feel bereft and, in fact, never noticed the absence. Perhaps I yam a Philistine? On the other hand, perhaps the surviving tunes & ditties are more than enough for anyone, even a 25 year-old commuter on the tube train; or Mr Warbleforth, compusively listening to Radio 3 all day long?

How lost are they, the lost items? Are they so lost that no one remembers what they were or were called?

How about all the minstrel & similar ditties of 2000BC to 1847AD? They went unrecorded even on a bit of paper so are now lost. Is this too a tragedy?

Cugel

[mercalia]

well if you read the very long extended article you will see why its a loss

well if you listen to music thru a pair of earbuds I can understand that its not a great loss

orginal high quality masters & tracks never seen the light of day.

What was really surprising was the very cavalier way the archives were all stored - reminds me of what the BBC used to do in the days when programmes were made on video tape then erased and recorded over with the loss of so many classic tv shows

[Cugel]

well if you read the very long extended article you will see why its a loss

well if you listen to music thru a pair of earbuds I can understand that its not a great loss

orginal high quality masters & tracks never seen the light of day.

What was really surprising was the very cavalier way the archives were all stored - reminds me of what the BBC used to do in the days when programmes were made on video tape then erased and recorded over with the loss of so many classic tv shows

Ha ha - I do appreciate your point, really. But I also feel that a great deal of human historical artefact is best lost. I often wish we could lose a lot more!

Prime example: the car. Another: all the recordings of George Formby and Noel Coward.

Cugel, realising it's all a matter of taste (but not necessarily "the best possible taste").

[mercalia]

Seems like many artists are taking Universal to court over the Great Fire of Hollywood

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/m ... n8fx8l7zZ8

Its taken 10 years or so for this fire's consequences to come to light

[mercalia]

so it wasnt just the golden oldies whose master tapes were lost

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-48745638

Sheryl Crow: Universal Studios fire destroyed all my master tapes

[Cunobelin]

It raises an interesting question.

We do have in written form many records of songs and in the art of the performance.

Those were the recording mediums of the time

Now we have a far better and effective recording method, so we leave for posterity a different record.

How we then preserve that is important.

Every record is important as it has influenced people whether that be a small group of listeners or has affected a generation

Think of test songs and anthems, how a movement like "Punk" was o much a social phenomenon.

We can and should be preserving this music and in this day and age, there is no reason why we should not have multiple archives to prevent such a loss in the future. It appears that this was an error by Universal who stored both the masters and "safety backup" in the same store