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.
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.'
Artists who've maintained their profiles on the platform are lamenting the loss of their important data.
Storage space costs money, but is this worth saving a reputation?
Others were flabbergasted over another fact: that MySpace still existed.
You may want to rethink your backup strategy.
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.
@lpeterp/Bluesky
@FPWellman/X
@bobsbeatgmail.com5/Threads