Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, Aretha Franklin and 500,000 more recordings destroyed in fire
A 2008 fire at Universal Studios in Hollywood destroyed scores and master tapes of approximately
500,000 albums and singles that shaped music history, a New York Times investigation has revealed.
The fire was subject to headlines around the world, but Universal shifted the attention of its carnage
to the destroyed King Kong theme park attraction. Whilst building 6197 —UMG’s main West Coast
storehouse of masters— perished in the blaze with no real coverage from media. Initially, reports
shared that “a vault full of video and television images” was destroyed in the fire, and an unnamed
representative for Universal quoted: “Thankfully, there was little lost from UMG’s vault. A majority
of what was formerly stored there was moved earlier this year to our other facilities. Of the small
amount that was still there and waiting to be moved, it had already been digitized so the music will
still be around for many years to come.”
https://tonedeaf.thebrag.com/music-fire/?fbclid=IwAR2DbyTRx_vLWvP6ScXEp_27FTO7g8JYk4OsEDqaPvRiYfoLEyJLiKw0PKY
