Myspace has lost all music uploaded to the site between 2003 and 2015
More than 50 million songs have been lost during a server migration
Myspace has confirmed that all photos, videos and audio files uploaded to the site by users between its launch in 2003 and 2015 have been lost, including more than 50 million songs from more than 14 million users.
Music links stopped working on the site around a year ago, at which point Myspace said they were working on a fix for the issue.
The social media platform has now confirmed all the data has been lost during a server migration operation.
An announcement at the top of the website reads: “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. If you would like more information, please contact our Data Protection Officer at DPO@myspace.com.”
Although Myspace’s popularity has dropped significantly this decade, the platform was very popular with musicians in the 2000s and hosted archives of music history that, if not backed up, have now gone forever.
This data loss serves as a warning that cloud storage is not as secure as we may believe it to be, and the likes of YouTube, Facebook, SoundCloud and Instagram aren no invulnerable to similar disasters. Those concerned about personal data they have stored on such sites may want to seek alternative storage options.
LuckyMe commented on the Myspace data loss on Twitter, writing: “They had demos. First songs. They had communications. Connections between artists. An important archive of youth culture. And completely fucked it.”
Patrick Hinton is Mixmag's Digital Features Editor, follow him on Twitter
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