Archivists have raised alarm bells about the deteriorating state of hard drives used in the music industry during the 1990s. Recent findings from Iron Mountain Media and Archive Services indicate that nearly 20% of these hard drives in their vaults are now unreadable, casting significant doubt on the future availability of recorded music from that era. Robert Koszela, an archivist at Iron Mountain and a former employee of Universal Music Group, emphasized the urgency of the situation by calling it a “call for action” rather than a sales pitch. He pointed out that many projects, packed away in what appear to be pristine cases, have turned into unplayable “bricks.”
Historically, the music industry relied on magnetic tape for storage prior to the 1990s, which produced recordings that required specific conditions to maintain their integrity. As digital recording emerged, hard drives were considered a more robust alternative. However, archivists have discovered that hard drives from that time period are prone to numerous faults, which threatens the preservation of valuable audio recordings.
This issue echoes the previous information revealed in 2019, when it was disclosed that over 700 artists had lost their masters in a notorious warehouse fire at Universal Studios in Hollywood, including recordings of Beck’s Hank Williams covers. The implications of these findings could affect music history, as invaluable recordings may soon be irretrievably lost.
For further insight, read more from the Mix report and a piece on this topic from Wired.