MySpace loses a dozen years worth of music
MySpace is facing the music.
The social networking site that encouraged musicians to share their work has admitted to losing a dozen years worth of uploads in a technical glitch.
“As a result of a server migration project, any photos, videos and audio files you uploaded more than three years ago may no longer be available on or from MySpace,” a message on the site that launched in 2003 reads. “We apologize for the inconvenience.”
Tech expert Andy Baio, cofounder of the art and technology-driven XOXO Festival, suspects more than 50 million songs may be lost.
“MySpace accidentally lost all the music uploaded from its first 12 years in a server migration, losing over 50 million songs from 14 million artists,” he tweeted. “I’m deeply skeptical this was an accident. Flagrant incompetence may be bad PR, but it still sounds better than ‘we can’t be bothered with the effort and cost of migrating and hosting 50 million old MP3s.’ ”
Before Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, MySpace was the platform people used to stay connected to old friends, meet new ones and discover new music.
Reps for MySpace did not immediately return a request for comment.
The social media company was bought by News Corp. in 2005. It was acquired by Justin Timberlake and Specific Media Group in 2011 and then Time Inc. in 2016, which has since been bought by the Meredith Corp.
MySpace has suffered dwindling membership with the rise of other social networking platforms.