This is an iHeart original.

This is an iHeart original.

We were trying anything and everything to recreate a business that would be thriving because at that time and forgetting, the music industry is getting a black eye. You know, they had just come years before, come off the whole road of the guys in Metallica attempting to sue college students for downloading music a nap stair and so what do you have now? You've got an opportunity for fans and fans to work together, and that harmony has was totally unique to my Space at the time, and I'd probably argue, I don't know if there's that harmony today, even though from great services out there, they're just much more compartmentalized.

We were trying anything and everything to recreate a business that would be thriving because at that time and forgetting, the music industry is getting a black eye. You know, they had just come years before, come off the whole road of the guys in Metallica attempting to sue college students for downloading music a nap stair and so what do you have now? You've got an opportunity for fans and fans to work together, and that harmony has was totally unique to my Space at the time, and I'd probably argue, I don't know if there's that harmony today, even though from great services out there, they're just much more compartmentalized.

I'm Joy McNeil, and this is main accounts the story of MySpace.

I'm Joy McNeil, and this is main accounts the story of MySpace.

Our record label was like, you know, you guys need to on MySpace page.

Our record label was like, you know, you guys need to on MySpace page.

You were like, really, that's Damon Krakowski. He plays in the duo Damon and Naomi, and before that he was in the bands Galaxy five hundred.

You were like, really, that's Damon Krakowski. He plays in the duo Damon and Naomi, and before that he was in the bands Galaxy five hundred.

I've been in bands since the late eighties, so that means I started in an analog world, and by our third record we were mixing digitally and starting to release on CB, but it wasn't until a good deal after that that we actually started using computers in our work in any serious manner.

I've been in bands since the late eighties, so that means I started in an analog world, and by our third record we were mixing digitally and starting to release on CB, but it wasn't until a good deal after that that we actually started using computers in our work in any serious manner.

In addition to music, these days, Damon writes about sound and digital culture. Check out his newsletter Data Drummer. It's great. He's written tech criticism on streaming services, algorithms, and distribution of music online. But back in the nineties, Damon wasn't online that much. He knew what the internet was, but it wasn't a big part of his life. One thing he did notice when he got online was that Galaxy five hundred fans were converging and hang out there meeting each other.

In addition to music, these days, Damon writes about sound and digital culture. Check out his newsletter Data Drummer. It's great. He's written tech criticism on streaming services, algorithms, and distribution of music online. But back in the nineties, Damon wasn't online that much. He knew what the internet was, but it wasn't a big part of his life. One thing he did notice when he got online was that Galaxy five hundred fans were converging and hang out there meeting each other.

In terms of music fandom. Yes, there were fans out there. We knew that. Again, we weren't really engaging it very much ourselves, so it was just kind of happening without our input. But there was a mailing list that developed that's still going. It's a Galax of one hundred fan site run by a lovely guy in England named Andy Aldrich. Andy was there kind of like keeping the flame alive, I guess for our band without our input, even really without our knowledge. But that crossed over into the analog world because when we tried to get our records repressed. It turned out that A and R people, of course, were aware of what was going on out there, and they checked and they were like, Wow, they're fans actually talking about your band. Maybe it is worth putting these records back in print.

In terms of music fandom. Yes, there were fans out there. We knew that. Again, we weren't really engaging it very much ourselves, so it was just kind of happening without our input. But there was a mailing list that developed that's still going. It's a Galax of one hundred fan site run by a lovely guy in England named Andy Aldrich. Andy was there kind of like keeping the flame alive, I guess for our band without our input, even really without our knowledge. But that crossed over into the analog world because when we tried to get our records repressed. It turned out that A and R people, of course, were aware of what was going on out there, and they checked and they were like, Wow, they're fans actually talking about your band. Maybe it is worth putting these records back in print.

In the nineties, just as online communities were entry the mainstream, from BBS to AOL, you could pretty much name an artist Kate Bush, Wu Tang Clan, George Michael and find a list serve or a message board or another online space to meet other fans and share stories. They were also sharing music online in the early nineties. This might have been pen pals exchanging bootleg cassettes and mixtapes. By the end of the decade, you didn't have to know the person you were trading music with. Napster, which launched in nineteen ninety nine, appear to appear file sharing program let you trade MP three's anonymously with other users. The fate of Napster might take another podcast to explain, but the basic thing to know is Napster had an incredible search functionality. People found music on Napster because they search for an artist's name. If people didn't know who an artist was, they weren't looking for that music. But there were other music sites like MP three dot com, which launched in nineteen ninety seven, where unsigned bands could upload tracks and create fan pages to promote their work. MP three dot com, like Napster, had its fill of copyright battles, and it was eventually acquired by Vivenda Universal. By two thousand and two, it was kind of a ghost town. The musicians who had been using it were looking for a new platform to share music. Many of those artists went to MySpace.

In the nineties, just as online communities were entry the mainstream, from BBS to AOL, you could pretty much name an artist Kate Bush, Wu Tang Clan, George Michael and find a list serve or a message board or another online space to meet other fans and share stories. They were also sharing music online in the early nineties. This might have been pen pals exchanging bootleg cassettes and mixtapes. By the end of the decade, you didn't have to know the person you were trading music with. Napster, which launched in nineteen ninety nine, appear to appear file sharing program let you trade MP three's anonymously with other users. The fate of Napster might take another podcast to explain, but the basic thing to know is Napster had an incredible search functionality. People found music on Napster because they search for an artist's name. If people didn't know who an artist was, they weren't looking for that music. But there were other music sites like MP three dot com, which launched in nineteen ninety seven, where unsigned bands could upload tracks and create fan pages to promote their work. MP three dot com, like Napster, had its fill of copyright battles, and it was eventually acquired by Vivenda Universal. By two thousand and two, it was kind of a ghost town. The musicians who had been using it were looking for a new platform to share music. Many of those artists went to MySpace.

I remember using our computer to log into Napster, you know, and figure that out, and lo and behold they were like Robert Wyatt bootlegs that I've been looking for on there. So I thought, well, this is cool, you know, I mean, why not.

I remember using our computer to log into Napster, you know, and figure that out, and lo and behold they were like Robert Wyatt bootlegs that I've been looking for on there. So I thought, well, this is cool, you know, I mean, why not.

Someone like dam who already had an audience with Galaxy five hundred didn't necessarily need a MySpace page, But for someone who was just getting started, it was a breakthrough. Artists could connect with producers. People were getting discovered on MySpace. Kate Nash, Calvin Harris, Arctic Monkeys, even Adele. She had a friend who posted her demos to MySpace early on.

Someone like dam who already had an audience with Galaxy five hundred didn't necessarily need a MySpace page, But for someone who was just getting started, it was a breakthrough. Artists could connect with producers. People were getting discovered on MySpace. Kate Nash, Calvin Harris, Arctic Monkeys, even Adele. She had a friend who posted her demos to MySpace early on.

Yeah, he put them on MySpace in two thousand and four, and then MySpace got huge, and then I got addicted to it by emailming and networking and finding friends and stuff on there, and then I got signed.

Yeah, he put them on MySpace in two thousand and four, and then MySpace got huge, and then I got addicted to it by emailming and networking and finding friends and stuff on there, and then I got signed.

That's right, almost twenty years ago. If you were clicking around MySpace late at night, you might have stumbled on a super early demo of Adele singing. Countless artists use the platform, like Sean Kingston.

That's right, almost twenty years ago. If you were clicking around MySpace late at night, you might have stumbled on a super early demo of Adele singing. Countless artists use the platform, like Sean Kingston.

Yo, what up, it's a boy Shawn Kingston shout said the MySpace. I must say that my Space is done a lot for me, like it really changed my life over just the past you know, year and a half.

Yo, what up, it's a boy Shawn Kingston shout said the MySpace. I must say that my Space is done a lot for me, like it really changed my life over just the past you know, year and a half.

Calvin Harris was living with his parents in Scotland and working in a fish factory when he got discovered on MySpace. Timing was everything.

Calvin Harris was living with his parents in Scotland and working in a fish factory when he got discovered on MySpace. Timing was everything.

My Space is kind of not what it was.

My Space is kind of not what it was.

I think my little window where I got signed. I was very fortunate to join it when I did, and.

I think my little window where I got signed. I was very fortunate to join it when I did, and.

I was kind of proactive as well as a hussled people MySpace.

I was kind of proactive as well as a hussled people MySpace.

The company recognized this opportunity. Artists on MySpace meant fans on MySpace, fans who would continue to log in and stay engaged on the site.

The company recognized this opportunity. Artists on MySpace meant fans on MySpace, fans who would continue to log in and stay engaged on the site.

The people that really launched my Space were the promoters and were the DJs and of course the artists.

The people that really launched my Space were the promoters and were the DJs and of course the artists.

Do you start with the artists.

Do you start with the artists.

They bring on their fan bases, You start with the DJs they bring in, you know, their fan bases.

They bring on their fan bases, You start with the DJs they bring in, you know, their fan bases.

What was happening on MySpace for music was this is the first opportunity where community was built around talent in a way that talent could interact with digitally.

What was happening on MySpace for music was this is the first opportunity where community was built around talent in a way that talent could interact with digitally.

Way we recreated before creatives. We were different than for instance, we took off because we had the artists.

Way we recreated before creatives. We were different than for instance, we took off because we had the artists.

Who was sixty that's Roslin Alba cober Ubius, who worked as head of Artist Relations at MySpace and Josh Brooks, the former vice president of Programming in Music at MySpace. Roslin helped set up MySpace Music, which was a feature of the social network developed to make it easier for artists to upload songs and share them. The reason music took off on MySpace comes back to the customizable pages. Just like users could edit the code to their profiles and add blingees or figure out the CSS code to make the background pink, users could edit the code to embed content onto their pages. Like playlist dot com and early streaming.

Who was sixty that's Roslin Alba cober Ubius, who worked as head of Artist Relations at MySpace and Josh Brooks, the former vice president of Programming in Music at MySpace. Roslin helped set up MySpace Music, which was a feature of the social network developed to make it easier for artists to upload songs and share them. The reason music took off on MySpace comes back to the customizable pages. Just like users could edit the code to their profiles and add blingees or figure out the CSS code to make the background pink, users could edit the code to embed content onto their pages. Like playlist dot com and early streaming.

Apples, dot com was basically a streaming module that was embedded in the MySpace pages at the time, and so this allowed me to actually grab music that I want to listen to and broadcast it out through my page, so people can come to my page figure out what kind of music I like is they can hear it, or I can actually share that flee list as well.

Apples, dot com was basically a streaming module that was embedded in the MySpace pages at the time, and so this allowed me to actually grab music that I want to listen to and broadcast it out through my page, so people can come to my page figure out what kind of music I like is they can hear it, or I can actually share that flee list as well.

MySpace users would also embed the YouTube player on their pages. YouTube had seemed to a lot of users like just another site to scavenge for content to put on your MySpace profile.

MySpace users would also embed the YouTube player on their pages. YouTube had seemed to a lot of users like just another site to scavenge for content to put on your MySpace profile.

There was a big controversy I want to say maybe two thousand and six ish where we actually removed the YouTube widget from MySpace pages and it created a huge controversy and Chris and Tom ended up making a decision to put back on there. But we were the only means of traffic for YouTube at the time, and so it was pretty amazing that now, I'll you know, what a behemo of a machine that is now, but it literally had its start on MySpace as a profile.

There was a big controversy I want to say maybe two thousand and six ish where we actually removed the YouTube widget from MySpace pages and it created a huge controversy and Chris and Tom ended up making a decision to put back on there. But we were the only means of traffic for YouTube at the time, and so it was pretty amazing that now, I'll you know, what a behemo of a machine that is now, but it literally had its start on MySpace as a profile.

That on coming up after the break MySpace Brings Music. The concert dubbed Operation MySpace, was hosted by comedian Carlos Mencia to the Troops in two thousand and eight. MySpace Stage is sort of USO show for the ed Hardy generation in Kuwait for members of the military stationed overseas. It was called Operation MySpace.

That on coming up after the break MySpace Brings Music. The concert dubbed Operation MySpace, was hosted by comedian Carlos Mencia to the Troops in two thousand and eight. MySpace Stage is sort of USO show for the ed Hardy generation in Kuwait for members of the military stationed overseas. It was called Operation MySpace.

It really started off as just like a scene of an idea saying, look, I remember the Bob Hope style shows in Vietnam, so used to go into hot zones and actually bring music in entertainment.

It really started off as just like a scene of an idea saying, look, I remember the Bob Hope style shows in Vietnam, so used to go into hot zones and actually bring music in entertainment.

That's Josh Brooks again, former vice president of Programming in Music at MySpace.

That's Josh Brooks again, former vice president of Programming in Music at MySpace.

And I'm thinking to myself, I know just through friends of friends that tons of troops use MySpace as a communication tool of their family around the world. So if you're stationed in the Middle East, you're using my Space to communicate back with your family and friends. And so you know, since we were doing so many innovative shows in the music and comedy, we said, all right, So I actually cold called the Pentagon and found that I spoke to I think it was an undersecretary about like health and Human Services or sort of more of the obscure secretaries. And then I got a meeting about a month later, flew to the Pentagon, met with their team and they have essentially like a USO like group that kind of works with US and the idea was, we want to do a live show in a hot zone where we know the troops are going to love it, where we know we could stream it around the world with bands and comedians that resonated with MySpace as well as these people. So at the time we had Carlos Vincia, Jessica Simpson, the Pussycat Dolls, the band filter that disturbed everybody else.

And I'm thinking to myself, I know just through friends of friends that tons of troops use MySpace as a communication tool of their family around the world. So if you're stationed in the Middle East, you're using my Space to communicate back with your family and friends. And so you know, since we were doing so many innovative shows in the music and comedy, we said, all right, So I actually cold called the Pentagon and found that I spoke to I think it was an undersecretary about like health and Human Services or sort of more of the obscure secretaries. And then I got a meeting about a month later, flew to the Pentagon, met with their team and they have essentially like a USO like group that kind of works with US and the idea was, we want to do a live show in a hot zone where we know the troops are going to love it, where we know we could stream it around the world with bands and comedians that resonated with MySpace as well as these people. So at the time we had Carlos Vincia, Jessica Simpson, the Pussycat Dolls, the band filter that disturbed everybody else.

I did say Pussycat Dolls because it's a lot of dudes in the Army like yeah, like like how they used to bring marily My Rold bring the Pussycat Dolls. But I was like, yeah, hot girls like that are amazing, and pay them what they're worth. A million dollars done.

I did say Pussycat Dolls because it's a lot of dudes in the Army like yeah, like like how they used to bring marily My Rold bring the Pussycat Dolls. But I was like, yeah, hot girls like that are amazing, and pay them what they're worth. A million dollars done.

That's Roslyn albat Cobarrubius again, who worked as head of artist relations at MySpace, And this was the Pussycat Dolls at Operation MySpace.

That's Roslyn albat Cobarrubius again, who worked as head of artist relations at MySpace, And this was the Pussycat Dolls at Operation MySpace.

Operation MySpace.

Operation MySpace.

We are the pussy Cat Doll and We're away.

We are the pussy Cat Doll and We're away.

They were a huge hit. Nicole Scherzinger, the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls, pointed out why my Space was important to the troops and a dedication she made during the set. We also want to thank Chris and Tom at MySpace.

They were a huge hit. Nicole Scherzinger, the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls, pointed out why my Space was important to the troops and a dedication she made during the set. We also want to thank Chris and Tom at MySpace.

We're putting on this whole operation my Space.

We're putting on this whole operation my Space.

Your time.

Your time.

And for being the lifeline, the connection to all of you and to your families and loved ones back home through MySpace.

And for being the lifeline, the connection to all of you and to your families and loved ones back home through MySpace.

We want to thank them.

We want to thank them.

Yeah, there's a few other folks. And we did a live show from Camp Heuring, Kuwait, which is probably like ten miles away from the Iraqi border, on a military based live stream. It was incredible and more than anything, you heard the relevancy of this, like oh my god, I use my Space to connect or oh my god, this band, this music I found. So everything you think you know about your consumers all sort of came together at that one moment, which is incredible.

Yeah, there's a few other folks. And we did a live show from Camp Heuring, Kuwait, which is probably like ten miles away from the Iraqi border, on a military based live stream. It was incredible and more than anything, you heard the relevancy of this, like oh my god, I use my Space to connect or oh my god, this band, this music I found. So everything you think you know about your consumers all sort of came together at that one moment, which is incredible.

It even ended up as a reunion for the band Filter.

It even ended up as a reunion for the band Filter.

We wanted to actually fly some of one of the band members from Filter, this band. He had subsequently left the band, became an army sergeant, and so we wanted to fly him like a troop carrier or something out to the venue, but he ended up just coming on normal means of a commercial flight instead.

We wanted to actually fly some of one of the band members from Filter, this band. He had subsequently left the band, became an army sergeant, and so we wanted to fly him like a troop carrier or something out to the venue, but he ended up just coming on normal means of a commercial flight instead.

My Space Tom was there by the way, he was signing autographs. Another reason music was popular in MySpace was the file size was just within reason for someone to add access and share through a less than robust by today's standards internet connection.

My Space Tom was there by the way, he was signing autographs. Another reason music was popular in MySpace was the file size was just within reason for someone to add access and share through a less than robust by today's standards internet connection.

Music was much smaller in size than film and TV, right, So films that you're talking about a heavy file of content, where music is a smaller bit of content, which you know, the Internet needed a minute to catch up, right, And that's the pipes weren't strong enough at the time, but they were coming along quickly.

Music was much smaller in size than film and TV, right, So films that you're talking about a heavy file of content, where music is a smaller bit of content, which you know, the Internet needed a minute to catch up, right, And that's the pipes weren't strong enough at the time, but they were coming along quickly.

But MySpace was expanding into video content. In two thousand and seven, the company produced a series called Artist on Artist, matching musicians with comedians Zach Alfanakis with Fiona Apple Maynard, James Keenan from Tool with patent Oswalt.

But MySpace was expanding into video content. In two thousand and seven, the company produced a series called Artist on Artist, matching musicians with comedians Zach Alfanakis with Fiona Apple Maynard, James Keenan from Tool with patent Oswalt.

Hey Mike An.

Hey Mike An.

My brother hey.

My brother hey.

Man, That's Mike Patton with Danny DeVito. Other video programs MySpace produced included a Jackass inspired kind of stunt series and a show called Roommates. It's hard to find clips of these programs now, incredibly hard. We'll find out why after the break.

Man, That's Mike Patton with Danny DeVito. Other video programs MySpace produced included a Jackass inspired kind of stunt series and a show called Roommates. It's hard to find clips of these programs now, incredibly hard. We'll find out why after the break.

A big problem back then was bandwidth. Bandwidth in general, but very much band within my space. And when I would bring it up, when I suggest maybe the pages are too thick because people are having problems downloading, they said, no, no, we have no problems downloading. I'm like, because you are in my space building, you know, do it at home.

A big problem back then was bandwidth. Bandwidth in general, but very much band within my space. And when I would bring it up, when I suggest maybe the pages are too thick because people are having problems downloading, they said, no, no, we have no problems downloading. I'm like, because you are in my space building, you know, do it at home.

That's Scott Zacharin, who made Roommates, one of the television programs that my Space produced.

That's Scott Zacharin, who made Roommates, one of the television programs that my Space produced.

Before.

Before.

I forget. If you have some clips that you could share with us, we'll have to go through like the licensing of them.

I forget. If you have some clips that you could share with us, we'll have to go through like the licensing of them.

But I have very little. Have you guys seen my reel?

But I have very little. Have you guys seen my reel?

No, I haven't, but you have some clips in the reel from Roomates.

No, I haven't, but you have some clips in the reel from Roomates.

There is very little in the dist Okay.

There is very little in the dist Okay.

It's a problem that's come up very often in my research for this podcast, all the experiences happening on MySpace and the activity, the profiles people created, the messages they sent one another, the testimonials posted, or who is in someone's top eight, There's not much left of it, and what little archives are around continue to be a very fragile resource.

It's a problem that's come up very often in my research for this podcast, all the experiences happening on MySpace and the activity, the profiles people created, the messages they sent one another, the testimonials posted, or who is in someone's top eight, There's not much left of it, and what little archives are around continue to be a very fragile resource.

Social networking website MySpace is apologizing to users after the company revealed it's lost all of the platform's content uploaded before twenty sixteen. A statement published on MySpace blames a server migration project.

Social networking website MySpace is apologizing to users after the company revealed it's lost all of the platform's content uploaded before twenty sixteen. A statement published on MySpace blames a server migration project.

In twenty nineteen, a reported twelve years of music and video uploads had been lost in a server migration process, and tellingly, it happened at least a year earlier than that, but no one had really been on MySpace to even notice. There was a post on the subreddit tech support in twenty eighteen someone asked for help downloading old tracks from MySpace and shared their exchanges with MySpace customer support. Longtime blogger Andy Bayo found this thread, and due to the whims of Internet virality, the issue grew to mass attention. The MySpace data loss was reported everywhere, from BBC to CNN at local news.

In twenty nineteen, a reported twelve years of music and video uploads had been lost in a server migration process, and tellingly, it happened at least a year earlier than that, but no one had really been on MySpace to even notice. There was a post on the subreddit tech support in twenty eighteen someone asked for help downloading old tracks from MySpace and shared their exchanges with MySpace customer support. Longtime blogger Andy Bayo found this thread, and due to the whims of Internet virality, the issue grew to mass attention. The MySpace data loss was reported everywhere, from BBC to CNN at local news.

The MySpace data loss is something that I always put in air quotes. I have no faith that this was done accidentally, like there was a cake of data being transported from one room to another and a waiter tripped. That's not how data works. That's not how a place like MySpace would work. What MySpace really stands as is an example of how long you can coast with user data and an early two thousands website and just do the minimal amount of work until it's not worth it. And MySpace was one of the few early social media websites where the users had incredible amounts of access to change the look and actually inject HTML and images so that you could really have a unique experience from page to page. This wasn't a whole set of you know, unified monoculture pages that had your name and who you know and nothing else.

The MySpace data loss is something that I always put in air quotes. I have no faith that this was done accidentally, like there was a cake of data being transported from one room to another and a waiter tripped. That's not how data works. That's not how a place like MySpace would work. What MySpace really stands as is an example of how long you can coast with user data and an early two thousands website and just do the minimal amount of work until it's not worth it. And MySpace was one of the few early social media websites where the users had incredible amounts of access to change the look and actually inject HTML and images so that you could really have a unique experience from page to page. This wasn't a whole set of you know, unified monoculture pages that had your name and who you know and nothing else.

That's Jason Scott.

That's Jason Scott.

My name is Jason Scott. I am the free rate archivist at the Internet Archive.

My name is Jason Scott. I am the free rate archivist at the Internet Archive.

Jason was able to gather almost half a million tracks that were lost.

Jason was able to gather almost half a million tracks that were lost.

As it turned out, people were doing research on MySpace in the late two thousands, and multiple sets of researchers were downloading what they called social network maps to download everybody who knew everybody else in some sort of confined space so they could analyze it how do human beings deal with computers and sharing their information? And along the way they had downloaded well over four hundred thousand songs from all sorts of artists and creators. And when I made a big noise in my capacity as activist about this loss, I had some researchers come to me and say, you know, we're sitting on a hard drive full of these songs, would you like them? Don't tell them where came from, please, And I said sure, And so hundreds and hundreds of gigabytes of MP three's low quality MP threes came to us, and I didn't want to just dump it up there, so I had a volunteer create a search engine that was specific to the MySpace songs, and I called it the MySpace Dragon Hoard, and the searching agent was called Hobbit.

As it turned out, people were doing research on MySpace in the late two thousands, and multiple sets of researchers were downloading what they called social network maps to download everybody who knew everybody else in some sort of confined space so they could analyze it how do human beings deal with computers and sharing their information? And along the way they had downloaded well over four hundred thousand songs from all sorts of artists and creators. And when I made a big noise in my capacity as activist about this loss, I had some researchers come to me and say, you know, we're sitting on a hard drive full of these songs, would you like them? Don't tell them where came from, please, And I said sure, And so hundreds and hundreds of gigabytes of MP three's low quality MP threes came to us, and I didn't want to just dump it up there, so I had a volunteer create a search engine that was specific to the MySpace songs, and I called it the MySpace Dragon Hoard, and the searching agent was called Hobbit.

You can explore the MySpace Music Dragon Hoard on the Internet Archive, and.

You can explore the MySpace Music Dragon Hoard on the Internet Archive, and.

It basically, with a little slowness and a little bit of shankiness, kind of looks like a MySpace audio player and lets you very vaguely search for album or band or song names, and if it's on there, it'll let you play it. And I'll tell you I've had bands come to me and say that was the only place this song was and you have it, and you rescued our song. Thanks for that. Not many, but enough to have made it worth it, beyond even doing it for the sake of it.

It basically, with a little slowness and a little bit of shankiness, kind of looks like a MySpace audio player and lets you very vaguely search for album or band or song names, and if it's on there, it'll let you play it. And I'll tell you I've had bands come to me and say that was the only place this song was and you have it, and you rescued our song. Thanks for that. Not many, but enough to have made it worth it, beyond even doing it for the sake of it.

One of the bands I looked up in the archive is called the Blinking Underdogs, a SKA band. Jason Scott told me about them.

One of the bands I looked up in the archive is called the Blinking Underdogs, a SKA band. Jason Scott told me about them.

The Internet Archive has one of the early albums from the SKA band from the nineteen nineties, and in the notes it says, yeah, our lead singer Oscar is going off to Juilliard, but he'll be back. He says, we're going to do some more music. They never did any music because Oscar was Oscar Isaac and he's gone off the other things. So you know, we have Oscar Isaac's early ska band that was only on the internet because we don't know where these things are going to lie. It's a museum exhibit of a time long past. For others, it's literally their childhood.

The Internet Archive has one of the early albums from the SKA band from the nineteen nineties, and in the notes it says, yeah, our lead singer Oscar is going off to Juilliard, but he'll be back. He says, we're going to do some more music. They never did any music because Oscar was Oscar Isaac and he's gone off the other things. So you know, we have Oscar Isaac's early ska band that was only on the internet because we don't know where these things are going to lie. It's a museum exhibit of a time long past. For others, it's literally their childhood.

Well, I always say that MySpace has been the biggest music site in the world that's not a music site, And what I mean by that is people come to MySpace to socialize and they sort of hear music while they're doing that.

Well, I always say that MySpace has been the biggest music site in the world that's not a music site, And what I mean by that is people come to MySpace to socialize and they sort of hear music while they're doing that.

The MySpace music Dragon Hoarde is an enormous chunk of MySpace history, but it's not everything. MySpace was just too big and in its current state, which we'll get into in later episodes, is the opposite of robust. In December of twenty twenty two, the original reddit user updated their post to say, I still get comments on this post four years later and feel I should give an update for folks that are trying to retrieve lost MP three files. MySpace released a statement a few years ago stating that any old content that you're unable to play or download was corrupted in a data migration and is unrecoverable. Unfortunately, there's nothing anyone can do. It sucks and I'm sorry to all of the people that land on this post looking for answers and how to retrieve lost files. Music from local bands, pictures of friends in the moment, deep in the oughts. When social networks were new, it might not have seemed crucial to have a backup of these files. But now that's a past, a precious history, places you can't get back to people who might not be around anymore. But our digital footprint isn't only a receipt of memories. This is data that can be evidence of tragedy, painful life events, even crimes. More on this in the next episode of Main Accounts, The Story of MySpace. Thanks for listening to Main Accounts, The Story of MySpace and iHeart original podcast Main Accounts. The Story of MySpace is written and hosted by me Joanne McNeil, editing its sound design by Mike Coscarelli and Mary Do. Original music by Elise McCoy, mixing and mastering by Josh Fisher. Research and fact checking by Austin Thompson, Jocelyn Sears, and Marissa Brown. Show logo by Lucy Kentania. Special thanks to Ryan Murdoch Grace Views at the Head Frasier. Our associate producer is Lauren Phillip, Our senior producer is Mike Coscarelli, and our executive producer is Jason English. If you're enjoying the show, leave us a rating and review on your favorite podcast platform Sadly, my MySpace page is no longer around, but you can find me on Twitter at Joe mick. Let us hear your MySpace story a check out my book Lurking main accounts. The Story of MySpace is a production of iHeart Podcasts.

The MySpace music Dragon Hoarde is an enormous chunk of MySpace history, but it's not everything. MySpace was just too big and in its current state, which we'll get into in later episodes, is the opposite of robust. In December of twenty twenty two, the original reddit user updated their post to say, I still get comments on this post four years later and feel I should give an update for folks that are trying to retrieve lost MP three files. MySpace released a statement a few years ago stating that any old content that you're unable to play or download was corrupted in a data migration and is unrecoverable. Unfortunately, there's nothing anyone can do. It sucks and I'm sorry to all of the people that land on this post looking for answers and how to retrieve lost files. Music from local bands, pictures of friends in the moment, deep in the oughts. When social networks were new, it might not have seemed crucial to have a backup of these files. But now that's a past, a precious history, places you can't get back to people who might not be around anymore. But our digital footprint isn't only a receipt of memories. This is data that can be evidence of tragedy, painful life events, even crimes. More on this in the next episode of Main Accounts, The Story of MySpace. Thanks for listening to Main Accounts, The Story of MySpace and iHeart original podcast Main Accounts. The Story of MySpace is written and hosted by me Joanne McNeil, editing its sound design by Mike Coscarelli and Mary Do. Original music by Elise McCoy, mixing and mastering by Josh Fisher. Research and fact checking by Austin Thompson, Jocelyn Sears, and Marissa Brown. Show logo by Lucy Kentania. Special thanks to Ryan Murdoch Grace Views at the Head Frasier. Our associate producer is Lauren Phillip, Our senior producer is Mike Coscarelli, and our executive producer is Jason English. If you're enjoying the show, leave us a rating and review on your favorite podcast platform Sadly, my MySpace page is no longer around, but you can find me on Twitter at Joe mick. Let us hear your MySpace story a check out my book Lurking main accounts. The Story of MySpace is a production of iHeart Podcasts.