Go ahead and get that vinyl

A Rant

Official MTV Mascot, the MTV “Moon Man”

Yesterday afternoon, Variety reported that MTV News has completely shuttered their site, removing thousands of articles spanning 28 years. This includes interviews with artists, spotlights on new music, and reporting on current events from hardworking journalists. Though MTV News officially ceased operation last year, there was an understanding that we would still be able to access their archive of information for future use because it is simply too important to lose. That they would serve as a time capsule for future generations to use for research or just for personal understanding of how the music of the time reflected the world around it. Or at least that was the optimistic hope that many used to console themselves about losing yet another important news source.

The reality is that we are losing important media at an alarming rate. Once easily accessible media is disappearing as if it never existed, adding to the growing amount of “lost media” that we can only reminisce about on reddit. On occasion, we lose works before we even get a chance to experience them. Recently, there’s been a trend among production studios wherein movies are being deleted after completion for tax write-off purposes (rip Batgirl). These movies can legally never be seen once they’re written off so the work of the writers, actors, crew, and staff gets buried with the film, and they receive no royalties for their work. They also cannot use that work to get other jobs in the industry, as potential employers have no way of verifying what they achieved in those films. This particular phenomenon has hit the animation industry especially hard.

Japanese Pop Superstar Namie Amuro

It isn’t just movies either. Late last year, the entire discography of iconic Japanese popstar Namie Amuro completely disappeared online. This included her official YouTube channel, Spotify, and allegedly any new physical copies being sold in Japan. Rumors have swirled that this is at the request of Namie herself. I won’t speculate but regardless of the reason, millions of her fans around the world no longer have access to her music. For those of us in America who don’t own her physical media, it means one of the only ways to listen to her voice again is to listen to opening 7 of Inuyasha, a decades old anime that can only be found (legally) on Netflix and Crunchyroll. This loss of media is especially frustrating when you consider that a lot of consumers have already purchased access. It’s a stark reminder that unless you can hold it in your hand, you don’t really own the things you pay for.

Now let’s get to the rant part. Without sounding like a petulant child, I hate this. I actually hate all of this. It makes me want to cry and rip out my mini twists one by one. Which, does in fact make me sound like a child but losing my formative works brings out a feeling of adolescent sadness in me. I had just assumed that any information I wanted was just a google away. Or a search on Spotify away, considering they take out their $10.99 a month. At least being raised using search engines in school taught me that. But to know that a tense conversation in a board room somewhere means that someone’s life work is erased makes me feel guilty for not working harder to support the artists and writers I rely on. That we should have been working harder to read their work and save what we could. Maybe even print some of it out? I can’t tell you the last time I actually printed an article but now feels like the time to start. I’ve made a habit of buying physical copies of music I really love. Books, too. It’s a hassle when you’re moving apartments once a year but in a world where an entire artists collection can be scrubbed overnight, it’s a must. Companies can’t delete your vinyls, after all.

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