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Some of you may remember MySpace, the primitive version of a social media networking site that predated Facebook and evolved into a promotional tool for musicians.
The Los Angeles-based platform that debuted in 2003, already on its way into obscurity, sealed their fate during an alleged server migration resulting in an irretrievable loss of roughly 50 million songs by 14 million artists.
Over a year ago, a few still dedicated MySpace users started noticing that they suddenly couldn't play or download music files.
A frustrated user sought help on Reddit on February 2018 for a solution to accessing an important file that couldn't be opened.
According to Arstechnica, a MySpace rep responded to the user in an email on the thread explaining that, "There is an issue with all songs/videos uploaded over 3 years ago" and that they were working on a fix.
Unfortunately, there was no fix. Months later, MySpace told users their music and other data were gone for good.
People eventually found an apology from MySpace within the thread that read:
"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."
"We apologize for the inconvenience and suggest that you retain your back up copies."
Andy Baio, a former chief technology officer of crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, is skeptical.
Myspace accidentally lost all the music uploaded from its first 12 years in a server migration, losing over 50 mill… https://t.co/e4gYr2nRG8— Andy Baio (@Andy Baio) 1552869751.0
Baio implied that MySpace may have intentionally sabotaged the files.
He tweeted in a followup to his initial tweet:
"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.'
I'm deeply skeptical this was an accident. Flagrant incompetence may be bad PR, but it still sounds better than "we… https://t.co/RECVG53ecJ— Andy Baio (@Andy Baio) 1552886180.0
Artists who've maintained their profiles on the platform are lamenting the loss of their important data.
@waxpancake Myspace was the only place that our band had downloaded music, i dont have the original dat tapes. Its all gone.— social james (@social james) 1552890126.0
@kylesellers @waxpancake You know I noticed about 2 months ago that none of the tracks on myspace would play, which… https://t.co/6p0YGjwpE1— social james (@social james) 1552920327.0
@NogginCalaboose @kylesellers @waxpancake yeah, they've actually likely been gone for a while. i've not been able t… https://t.co/4p4g58kzsf— mikey (@mikey) 1552933181.0
RIP myspace 03-15. now nobody will be able to hear the garageband songs i uploaded with my friend when i was 13 und… https://t.co/QLOiDl8Au8— Daisy Jones (@Daisy Jones) 1552906484.0
Well there goes my first DJ mixes and a few of my first raps 😢💔 https://t.co/dlEGxIcSK0— Abu Fehmi (@Abu Fehmi) 1552908957.0
In honour of the #MySpace news, we look back at the time we tracked down some of the MySpace bands that didn't quit… https://t.co/e4atDHH1fH— Metal Hammer (@Metal Hammer) 1552909864.0
Storage space costs money, but is this worth saving a reputation?
@waxpancake Really? Why? It costs nothing to copy 50 million mp3s. It is a few gb of data. It literally cost their… https://t.co/98uYDXn1TK— Sɔoʇʇ ſɐɔoqsǝu (@Sɔoʇʇ ſɐɔoqsǝu) 1553002421.0
@jacobsenscott Around 250 terabytes, roughly $7k/month to store on S3, not counting data transfer. But it’s also th… https://t.co/5viUTSFmew— Andy Baio (@Andy Baio) 1553005284.0
@waxpancake If you think the cost of migrating and hosting 50 million MP3s (considering their size and bandwidth re… https://t.co/tAOwtihwyG— Charles Mecklenburg (@Charles Mecklenburg) 1552911893.0
@Charles_Mecklen @waxpancake Let's see .... 50m mp3s, maybe 5mbytes each, that's 250 Terabytes. About £10k worth of… https://t.co/WJAEXBz54N— MoraleCurry (@MoraleCurry) 1552918209.0
Others were flabbergasted over another fact: that MySpace still existed.
@waxpancake Wait, there's still a myspace?— TimOfLegend &:Y} (@TimOfLegend &:Y}) 1552886464.0
@TimOfLegend Sort of! Acquired by News Corp in 2005 for $580M. In 2011, major layoffs preceded a sale to an ad targ… https://t.co/KSeJMnF1qn— Andy Baio (@Andy Baio) 1552886952.0
It's 2019 and I'm writing about MySpace. https://t.co/d5B2GYimn3— Zoe Kleinman 🎙️💻🤖 (@Zoe Kleinman 🎙️💻🤖) 1552905865.0
@TimOfLegend @waxpancake Now it called emptyspace 😉— Bjarni Wark (@Bjarni Wark) 1552945559.0
@TimOfLegend @waxpancake or better still LostinSpace 😉— Bjarni Wark (@Bjarni Wark) 1552952913.0
@zsk I feel incredibly old right now...— Danny Palmer (@Danny Palmer) 1552906196.0
@dannyjpalmer SAME. especially after one of my colleagues kindly sent me this... https://t.co/DMylP4YvWW— Zoe Kleinman 🎙️💻🤖 (@Zoe Kleinman 🎙️💻🤖) 1552906465.0
You may want to rethink your backup strategy.
Think your uploaded creative projects will always be around? "As a result of a server migration project, any photo… https://t.co/RRPtE5SvHX— Frank Catalano (@Frank Catalano) 1552913650.0
@FrankCatalano @BoingBoing Always remember that, if it's something that can hurt you, it's on the internet forever.… https://t.co/BPrPt6wiZR— The Green Monster (@The Green Monster) 1552945681.0
Imagine if Facebook crashed and all of your photos and precious memories were suddenly wiped out forever. Have you backed up all your files?
This just goes to show you never know.