Further to the mp3.com thing, I thought I’d link to their artists’ page from about 1997 or so through the brilliant Internet Archive Wayback Machine. No luck, though – mp3.com has blocked robots. Very interesting, especially as I have previously accessed their archived pages this way (only a couple of months ago I think). I noticed years ago that they were in the habit of removing bulletin board posts after only a few months, but this takes the cake.

It could all be connected to the apparent inevitability of mp3.com either shutting up shop or turning into something ugly. According to an admin post on the one “free” bulletin board left standing (sorry I can’t link to it – requires login):”MP3.com is streamlining aspects of its U.S. operations in preparation for an asset sale consistent with VUNet USA’s broader strategy of selling its online entertainment properties.” This is supposedly why they are no longer accepting new “free” signups (but why are they still accepting “paid” ones?).

So another one bites the dust. Let’s hope that new player magnatune can do better.