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Author Topic:  Masters Disaster
Ben Elder

 

From:
La Crescenta, California, USA
Post  Posted 11 Jun 2019 11:39 pm    
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A 2008 fire at Universal Studios in Hollywood was a far greater catastrophe than the PR people let on. Among other casualties, over 100,000 (perhaps as many as 500,000) master recordings from labels owned by Universal in its West Coast operations were lost. Among the labels were Decca, Impulse (jazz) and even though it was a Chicago concern, Chess Records. Artist casualties include works by Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Tom Petty, Billie Holiday, just to name a very few. The flacks' reassurance that everything was backed up digitally seems to be at odds with reality.

The story is from the New York Times Magazine:

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

And, somewhat redundantly:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/11/us/master-recordings-universal-fire.html?action=click&module=RelatedCoverage&pgtype=Article&region=Footer
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Jason Stillwell


From:
Caddo, OK, USA
Post  Posted 26 Jun 2019 10:34 am    
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I read a follow-up article this morning.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/25/magazine/universal-music-fire-bands-list-umg.html
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Mitch Drumm

 

From:
Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake
Post  Posted 26 Jun 2019 12:10 pm    
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https://tinyurl.com/y6f35h47


For decades, the music industry was exclusively a business of now, of today’s hot release, of this week’s charts — of hits, not history. “Nobody cared about catalog,” says an industry veteran. “Stuff that was five years old might as well have been 1,000 years old.”………..


A report by BuzzAngle, which analyzes online music consumption, found that about half the music streamed on demand in the United States last year was “deep catalog,” songs three or more years old. A catalog boom could theoretically push labels to digitize more archival recordings. But a question remains as to how deep “deep catalog” extends. The old songs most listeners are streaming are either recent hits or classics by huge artists like the Beatles and Bob Marley. Labels may not see much incentive to digitize less-popular material…….


If the sole vestiges of thousands of old recordings are a few stray 45s lining the shelves of collectors — perhaps that’s not a cultural tragedy, perhaps that’s a commercial-art ecosystem functioning properly…………..


“The music business intercepted about a century’s worth of sounds, the vast majority of which it lost money on,” says Andy Zax, the producer and writer. “Much of that music, at any given moment, may seem dated, irrelevant, terrible. The most powerful argument for preservation is simply: ‘We don’t know.’ The sounds from the past that seem vital to us in the present keep changing.
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Donny Hinson

 

From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
Post  Posted 28 Jun 2019 12:51 pm    
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"The past is always changing". Confused
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Joachim Kettner


From:
Germany
Post  Posted 29 Jun 2019 6:46 am    
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Probably a big blow for all the re-issue labels, releasing old records in small quantities, but still making a living from it. I have some of Gene Clark, but they must come from before the fire.
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Godfrey Arthur

 

From:
3rd Rock
Post  Posted 7 Jul 2019 7:49 pm    
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Sounds to me like the Louvre scene in 2012.

If the world ended and had to start over again, these old masters will be very valuable.

Mentioning Petty, he started a fight against the record companies who wanted to bilk him of his publishing.

Now we have "burnt masters" and no real explanation as to how and why that occurred and why were all these important masters sitting in one building with no fire safety?

If Tom were alive, what would he be saying?

Beato's take.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWSMGwB_WT0&feature=em-lbcastemail

Another pov expletives warranted:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi5qTPC2fgQ
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