What to do with old masters and 2"

[TheBlackStuff]

Hey Folks.

I recently have taken over a large studio, that has over the years seen many big names through the doors.

I'm tidying, fixing, organising and labelling at the moment but A LOT of space is taken up by old masters, both 1/2" and 2"...

Some date back to the 80's, some are 90's and 2000's.

My question is this:

What do most large studios do with their vast collections of tapes that
1 - COULD be worth something
2 - the artists/labels are not paying the storage for
3 - The studio doesn't have the right to publish the contents

If stored correctly am I right in thinking that in theory (say for smacking with drums) I could re-use the 2" tapes from the 2000's?

What have YOU done in my position?
(I know they'll eventually all die, and I know about baking them)

Cheers!

[rockitrecordings]

Depending on how well they were stored they might just turn to goo if you try to use them I remember coming across some tapes at my school that were only 6 years old and I tried to use them for smacking drums as well, I ended up with a load of tape mush all over the record and playback heads.

Also, depending on how valuable they might be(and how well they were documented) you might want to contact the producer/engineers and at least let them know you're thinking about reusing them/getting rid of them. They might want them still.

Joshua

[drBill]

I personally have not found tape from more than 5 years old worth re-using. I know, I'm a "purist". The shedding and mud issues would not be worth it for me.

Personally, I'd contact the owners making sure I had good backup documentation, telling then that from here on out, you are charging $25 per month per reel of tape and to make arrangements to pick up their masters, or please submit $ 25 per month for each of the masters listed below.

If you don't hear back, I'd send a second letter telling them that you would be bulk erasing them and tossing them in the dumpster. Please check first to see what local laws are in regards to gear/etc. left and not paid for. Basically you are storing product for them, without them paying. At some point, they forfeit ownership. You need your ducks in a row on this one to limit your liability. Make sure you keep good records.

I know, it sounds harsh, but a bunch of of 2" than no one is ever going to bake first and then listen to is a huge space hog.

[Musiclab]

I've had no issues with older GP9 or 499, just about everything else I have had shed issues with, recently there have been a rash of transfers that I did that were all 456 and 3M and all of those had to be baked. That aside I basically agree with Bill, with one caveat, if any of these old clients were still using your place it might be a make nice customer relation kind of thing. As far as taking their recordings and sampling and recycling material that probably has a copyright, I'd be careful, also not a good way to make nice

[TheBlackStuff]

Originally Posted by rockitrecordings

Depending on how well they were stored they might just turn to goo if you try to use them I remember coming across some tapes at my school that were only 6 years old and I tried to use them for smacking drums as well, I ended up with a load of tape mush all over the record and playback heads.

Also, depending on how valuable they might be(and how well they were documented) you might want to contact the producer/engineers and at least let them know you're thinking about reusing them/getting rid of them. They might want them still.

Joshua

wow. i thought they'd be ok after 6 years... 10 maybe not but 6 doesn't seem like much!

I personally have not found tape from more than 5 years old worth re-using. I know, I'm a "purist". The shedding and mud issues would not be worth it for me.

Personally, I'd contact the owners making sure I had good backup documentation, telling then that from here on out, you are charging $25 per month per reel of tape and to make arrangements to pick up their masters, or please submit $ 25 per month for each of the masters listed below.

If you don't hear back, I'd send a second letter telling them that you would be bulk erasing them and tossing them in the dumpster. Please check first to see what local laws are in regards to gear/etc. left and not paid for. Basically you are storing product for them, without them paying. At some point, they forfeit ownership. You need your ducks in a row on this one to limit your liability. Make sure you keep good records.

I know, it sounds harsh, but a bunch of of 2" than no one is ever going to bake first and then listen to is a huge space hog.

It's not harsh at all. My understanding is that the studio's owner has already informed the owners of the tapes. I tend to agree, charging for the storage (threatening to) seems to be the answer.

As for documentation, what a mess...

I've had no issues with older GP9 or 499, just about everything else I have had shed issues with, recently there have been a rash of transfers that I did that were all 456 and 3M and all of those had to be baked. That aside I basically agree with Bill, with one caveat, if any of these old clients were still using your place it might be a make nice customer relation kind of thing. As far as taking their recordings and sampling and recycling material that probably has a copyright, I'd be careful, also not a good way to make nice

Cool, a lot of them ARE 499...

No no, I never even thought of SAMPLING! Charging for transfers and remixes, remasters maybe but I wouldn't dare even try to play one of them without asking the artist or label's permission first!

---

Thanks for the info guys, I have to admit I hadn't thought of checking LOCAL laws about strorage.

[drBill]

Originally Posted by TheBlackStuff

Cool, a lot of them ARE 499...

I've had shedding/mud issues with 499 pretty quickly - probably after 4-5 years. I'm in LA, so not TOO much humidity, but not as dry as AZ.

Originally Posted by TheBlackStuff

Thanks for the info guys, I have to admit I hadn't thought of checking LOCAL laws about strorage.

Yeah, you've absolutely got to cover yourself on this. thumbsup

[crewstudios]

I recently went through the same thing.

First...contact ANYONE you have contact information for. Some may not even be aware they have masters floating around out there. Contact the label and the artist if you can. Let them know you aren't able to store their property any longer, and would like to get it back to them (at their shipping cost) or will charge for storage. Be as detailed about what you have as you can. They WILL ask what's on the tapes.

If there are tapes that have no documentation, or bands you don't have/can't find contact info for, put a notice up on your website stating that you will be destroying all un-claimed materials after a certain date. That minimum date varies by local laws. Look into it.

For legal reasons here in BC (and to completely cover my a**), I took an ad out in a national publication (newspaper) stating my intentions. Same classified section as where company bankruptcies appear.

It's important that you do all you can (due dilligence) to let everyone know. You DON'T want to be on the wrong side of a lawsuit over this. But make sure you're covered from every angle.

Also...you might be making someones day. I had one band request I transfer the tapes into a digital format and they did some more overdubs on it. Picked up where they left off and actually released it!

Mike

[Voyage.One]

It might be a good idea to do digital backups first.

[Adlen]

Send them to me, we need some 2" reels for show