The Day the Music Burned - Music Masters Lost Forever

[TRENCH]

Official article:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/11/magazine/universal-fire-master-recordings.html

 

Old news is being revived due to a New York Time article calling out the fact that UMG hid the... fact that masters of music recordings were actually burned in that decade-old fire. Back in 2008, they said only some old 1920s films and amusement park attraction pieces were burned, and that anything music related was backed up and no true jewels were lost. This (expose?) says otherwise.

 

Summary:

 

Articles

 

Smithsonian:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/universal-fire-according-explosive-new-york-times-report-180972398/

 

Genius:

https://genius.com/a/universal-music-lost-a-reported-150-million-in-master-recordings-in-a-2008-fire

 

Reddit discussion in PopHeads:

https://www.reddit.com/r/popheads/comments/bzbyjj/the_day_the_music_burned_it_was_the_biggest/

 

 

 

'The biggest disaster in the history of the music business': Universal is accused of covering up the extent of a 2008 fire that destroyed tens of thousands of iconic music recordings, including work by Buddy Holly, Elton John, Bing Crosby and Eminem

• The fire broke out in June 2008 and destroyed parts of the Universal Studios film and TV studio in Hollywood
• At the time, it was reported that the blaze had torn through about five structures, including a movie set, and destroyed videos and reels stored in a vault 
• The New York Times reported on Tuesday, however, that a huge catalog of iconic music recordings also perished in the fire
• Among the recordings lost included almost all of Buddy Holly's masters
• Single and album masters of dozens of other artists were also destroyed
• Citing dozens of internal company documents and confidential reports, the NYT said Universal downplayed the extent of damage
• -dailymail.uk

 

 

 

 

A short list of musicians involved:

 

 

Benny Goodman, Cab Calloway, the Andrews Sisters, the Ink Spots, the Mills Brothers, Lionel Hampton, Ray Charles, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Clara Ward, Sammy Davis Jr., Les Paul, Fats Domino, Big Mama Thornton, Burl Ives, the Weavers, Kitty Wells, Ernest Tubb, Lefty Frizzell, Loretta Lynn, George Jones, Merle Haggard, Bobby (Blue) Bland, B.B. King, Ike Turner, the Four Tops, Quincy Jones, Burt Bacharach, Joan Baez, Neil Diamond, Sonny and Cher, the Mamas and the Papas, Joni Mitchell, Captain Beefheart, Cat Stevens, the Carpenters, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Al Green, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Elton John, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Buffett, the Eagles, Don Henley, Aerosmith, Steely Dan, Iggy Pop, Rufus and Chaka Khan, Barry White, Patti LaBelle, Yoko Ono, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, the Police, Sting, George Strait, Steve Earle, R.E.M., Janet Jackson, Eric B. and Rakim, New Edition, Bobby Brown, Guns N’ Roses, Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige, Sonic Youth, No Doubt, Nine Inch Nails, Snoop Dogg, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Hole, Beck, Sheryl Crow, Tupac Shakur, Eminem, 50 Cent and the Roots.

 

 

Right now Universal is denying any claims (like the corporate trash they are). Recordings of entire discographies and entire LABELS are gone. Truly disturbing. Someone on the NYT article commented that Universal should just give the rest of their masters to the Library of Congress. They still have legal rights over them and someone who actually cares will handle them... that would be a win-win.

Edited June 11, 2019 by TRENCH

[Florida]

And this is why labels should NEVER own masters. 

[YUNGATA]

bump. more people should read about this.

[SlowGinFizzzz]

A short list of musicians involved:

 

Benny Goodman, Cab Calloway, the Andrews Sisters, the Ink Spots, the Mills Brothers, Lionel Hampton, Ray Charles, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Clara Ward, Sammy Davis Jr., Les Paul, Fats Domino, Big Mama Thornton, Burl Ives, the Weavers, Kitty Wells, Ernest Tubb, Lefty Frizzell, Loretta Lynn, George Jones, Merle Haggard, Bobby (Blue) Bland, B.B. King, Ike Turner, the Four Tops, Quincy Jones, Burt Bacharach, Joan Baez, Neil Diamond, Sonny and Cher, the Mamas and the Papas, Joni Mitchell, Captain Beefheart, Cat Stevens, the Carpenters, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Al Green, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Elton John, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Buffett, the Eagles, Don Henley, Aerosmith, Steely Dan, Iggy Pop, Rufus and Chaka Khan, Barry White, Patti LaBelle, Yoko Ono, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, the Police, Sting, George Strait, Steve Earle, R.E.M., Janet Jackson, Eric B. and Rakim, New Edition, Bobby Brown, Guns N’ Roses, Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige, Sonic Youth, No Doubt, Nine Inch Nails, Snoop Dogg, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Hole, Beck, Sheryl Crow, Tupac Shakur, Eminem, 50 Cent and the Roots.

[TRENCH]

Apparently Eminem’s masters were digitally moved JUST months before the fire

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/uproxx.com/hiphop/eminem-universal-fire-masters-backed-up-digitally/amp/

[bigspender]

oh geez

[maxthehitman]

Thanks for the post.

I was also aware of this news a few years back. Its all so sad , entire recordings gone forever 

Its like the burning of the "Library of Alexandria". 

 

Only those with the original recordings on vinyl can pass on the historical value of some of those songs for the newer generations.

 

This news also reminds me of another tragic news,  I read a few years ago. Near Milwalkee or Chicago hundreds of thousands

of rare recordings on vinyl and old 78rpm discs (master recordings ) were bulldozed and thrown into the river. All recordings destroyed.

They were kept in an old warehouse, and when the city decided to bring the place down to make room for some

new buildings next to the river, they merely brought in some Bulldozer machines and threw everything into the river. Sunk and

destroyed forever ! 

 

Parts of this news is here -  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramount_Records

 

" Like other record companies during the Great Depression, Paramount sold most of its master recordings as scrap metal.

Some of the company's recordings were said to have been thrown into the Milwaukee River by disgruntled employees when

the company was closing in the mid-1930s.  A 2006 episode of the PBS television show History Detectives showed divers

searching the river for Paramount masters and unsold 78s, but they were unsuccessful. Author Amanda Petrusich also dived into

the river to find some records for her 2014 book Do Not Sell At Any Price, but did not find any. "

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Can you trust web platforms to preserve music? 

MySpace just lost 50 million songs (yes, 50 million!) because it failed to keep a backup and then 

corrupted existing files during a routine transfer. 

This is why physical ownership of music, books, films, etc. is so important.

 

https://twitter.com/tedgioia/status/1107822150994591744

[TRENCH]

 

Thanks for the post.

I was also aware of this news a few years back. Its all so sad , entire recordings gone forever 

Its like the burning of the "Library of Alexandria". 

 

Only those with the original recordings on vinyl can pass on the historical value of some of those songs for the newer generations.

 

This news also reminds me of another tragic news,  I read a few years ago. Near Milwalkee or Chicago hundreds of thousands

of rare recordings on vinyl and old 78rpm discs (master recordings ) were bulldozed and thrown into the river. All recordings destroyed.

They were kept in an old warehouse, and when the city decided to bring the place down to make room for some

new buildings next to the river, they merely brought in some Bulldozer machines and threw everything into the river. Sunk and

destroyed forever ! 

 

Parts of this news is here -  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramount_Records

 

" Like other record companies during the Great Depression, Paramount sold most of its master recordings as scrap metal.

Some of the company's recordings were said to have been thrown into the Milwaukee River by disgruntled employees when

the company was closing in the mid-1930s.  A 2006 episode of the PBS television show History Detectives showed divers

searching the river for Paramount masters and unsold 78s, but they were unsuccessful. Author Amanda Petrusich also dived into

the river to find some records for her 2014 book Do Not Sell At Any Price, but did not find any. "

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Can you trust web platforms to preserve music? 

MySpace just lost 50 million songs (yes, 50 million!) because it failed to keep a backup and then 

corrupted existing files during a routine transfer. 

This is why physical ownership of music, books, films, etc. is so important.

 

https://twitter.com/tedgioia/status/1107822150994591744

 

 

Yeah as a music collector this news made me mad and sad.

 

Also isn't that pollution? But what do I expect from Chicago? their local government is questionable and shady.. always has been.

And yes I forgot about the myspace news! it shows that you cant trust one source to store something, whether physical or digital from pictures, books, music, etc.

 

Here is an update on this event 

https://completemusicupdate.com/article/universal-music-provides-update-on-losses-from-2008-warehouse-fire/