Universal Music Group is disputing parts of the New York Times article published Tuesday that said as many as 500,000 master tapes were destroyed in a 2008 fire.
The label issued a statement to Variety, claiming that the article contains “numerous inaccuracies, misleading statements, contradictions and fundamental misunderstandings of the scope of the incident and affected assets.” The company stated, "While there are constraints preventing us from publicly addressing some of the details of the fire that occurred at NBC Universal Studios facility more than a decade ago, the incident -- while deeply unfortunate -- never affected the availability of the commercially released music nor impacted artists’ compensation."
The statement adds, there are “tens of thousands of back catalog recordings that we have already issued in recent years -- including master-quality, high-resolution, audiophile versions of many recordings that the story claims were 'destroyed.'"
However, the company doesn't dispute the article's assertions that the damage to their archives was extensive.