An excellent article, better than one might have expected upon learning of
the title. One caveat however — the writer, like most people, blithely
assumes that “digitization” is a be-all and end-all. In fact there are in
the numeric process as many forms and levels and sonic qualities as with
analog. Plus the possibility of a “digital fire” must not be dismissed.

I should now draw your attention to a paper I presented to the 1986 ARSC
conference in San Francisco, outlining all such considerations about the
masters being dispersed around the globe (who knows where?) either in
private hands or held in central facilities with little or no regulation or
oversight. At the same time I advanced a proposal to create a taxonomy of
extant masters but failed to vigorously pursue the matter. I did however
submit the summary proposal to several important foundations and
individuals, but received no response. So there, mea culpa, I let it rest.



On Tuesday, June 11, 2019, Jones, Randye <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Amazing article about lose of musical heritage
>
> The Day the Music Burned
> https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/11/magazine/universal-fire-
> master-recordings.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article
>