Master Tape Rescue

Master Tape Rescue is a simple idea:

Thousands of “lost” recordings remain stored in old studios, attics, libraries, storage units, etc. unseen and unheard for many decades.

These recordings were held in case someone calls to claim back their master tapes. But that call rarely comes, simply because no one knows that the tapes still exist. Very often, the archive is used to having the old tapes around; it becomes a comfortable and low-interest asset, something that’s kinda cool to show visitors at most. Studio buildings can change hands many times over the years, but the tape storage remains within the property across several owners. And so, the tapes sit there forever, unknown and unclaimed. 

The problem is the information gap, between the archive holding the tapes and those who would wish to find them, so the recordings stay in limbo. The archive doesn’t want to throw them out (they often don’t own them) but the effort to search out ownership and return the tapes isn’t financially worthwhile. At MasterTapeRescue.com, we simply hope to connect the labels/producers/artists seeking lost tapes with the archive holding them. 

The MTR solution is here in these pages; to simply list the holdings of these various archives, making the contents searchable and available to the rights-holder of those recordings. The location of each archive remains anonymous to the public, but a credible request about the tapes can be passed forward to each archive upon request.

Read more about our mission in the New York Times.