Lost Media

Disclaimer: Lost media in itself is not an aesthetic. This page is meant to explain terminology.

Poster art for the 1927 film London After Midnight, a silent horror film starring Lon Chaney, which is now considered a lost film.

Lost media is a term that broadly refers to media—such as books, music, films, television and radio broadcasts, and video games—that are believed to no longer exist in any accessible format, or for which no copies can be located. This encompasses a wide range of visual, audio, and audiovisual materials.

Many factors contribute to media becoming lost. Historically, the industry practice of wiping magnetic tape often resulted in the loss of television and radio broadcast masters. Motion picture studios also frequently destroyed their original nitrate film elements, as film and broadcast material was often considered ephemeral and of little historical worth after initial release.

The assumption that certain media were of "little historical worth" after their initial release can be compared to the Viking's approach to their own beliefs and practices. Just as the Vikings, confident in the enduring nature of their traditions, saw little need to extensively document them, early film studios and broadcasters often treated their creations as ephemeral, focusing on immediate commercial value rather than long-term preservation. They assumed that the cultural impact and availability of these works were assured, not anticipating the technological shifts, changing tastes, and simple degradation that would eventually lead to their loss. In both cases, a perceived permanence blinded creators and custodians to the fragility of cultural artifacts and the importance of proactive preservation.

While some media considered lost may exist in studio or public archives, access can be restricted due to copyright or donor restrictions. Furthermore, the unstable nature of various media formats poses a significant challenge. Films, tapes, phonograph records, optical discs (like CDs and DVDs), and digital data stored on hard drives all naturally degrade over time, especially if not kept in correct storage conditions.

Preservation efforts, typically involving storage in archives, attempt to mitigate the loss of these works.

"Is Lost Media an Aesthetic?"

While "lost media" itself isn't technically an aesthetic due to its incredibly broad scope—encompassing everything from the earliest films ever recorded to unidentifiable songs and even a deleted phone photo—it has undeniably become intertwined with certain aesthetic sensibilities, particularly in online discourse. The term refers to any media believed to be irretrievable, making it a functional descriptor rather than a stylistic one. A lost film from the silent era evokes a vastly different feeling than a lost 90s pop song, yet both fall under the umbrella of "lost media."

However, the connotations surrounding lost media have become heavily influenced by online communities and their explorations of these forgotten artifacts. A sense of mystery and even dread often permeates discussions of lost media, fueled by the inherent unknowability of what might have been contained within these vanished works. This feeling, while understandable given the finality of loss, can sometimes be disproportionate to the actual content. Permanently deleting an image from your phone, for example, is technically creating "lost media," but it's rarely perceived as a terrifying or culturally significant event.

Several factors contribute to this perception of lost media. The rapid pace at which internet history fades away creates a sense of urgency and a need for archival. What was once readily accessible online can vanish in a blink, which exposes how fragile online information actually is. As a Medium article notes, "Estimates suggest that 25% of web pages created over the last decade are no longer accessible online." This ephemeral nature fuels the desire to preserve and recover lost media, giving it a perceived value beyond its original context. The loss of these digital artifacts, from websites and social media pages to videos and audio files, represents not just lost data but lost stories, cultural moments, and even historical records. The Internet Archive, founded in 1996, stands as a monument to digital history, holding over "866 billion web pages, 44 million books, and more than 10 million videos" in its mission to preserve it. However, even this effort faces challenges, including the constant threat of digital obsolescence, copyright issues, and censorship, all of which complicate the already difficult task of preserving the internet.

The 2020s witnessed a resurgence of interest in lost media, including the creation of dedicated online communities and subreddits. This renewed interest has coincided with, and often been juxtaposed against, the rise of specific internet aesthetics. Lostwave, a subgenre of lost media focusing on unidentified songs, has become particularly popular. Lostwave, a subgenre of lost media focusing on unidentified songs, has found a receptive audience within online spaces that often overlap with aesthetics like Hauntology, Frutiger Aero, Frutiger Metro, and Vaporwave. Unlike aesthetics like Frutiger Aero and Vaporwave, which evoke specific decades and a set of cultural references, Lostwave focuses on unidentified and often mysterious media. This focus on the unknown is a key element of its appeal to online communities, who are drawn to the challenge of rediscovering these lost artifacts.

This is further complicated by the phenomenon of "faux-nostalgia," where individuals feel a sense of longing for a past they never directly experienced. This triggers a sense of anemoia – nostalgia for a time one has never known. The "Everyone Knows That" phenomenon perfectly illustrates this; listeners feel a strong sense of familiarity, convinced they've heard the song before, despite it remaining unidentified. This "nostalgia that was never there," as described by some, creates a powerful emotional connection to lost media. The search for lost media has become a collaborative endeavor, with lost media "researchers" using platforms like Reddit, TikTok, and Discord to share clues, theories, and discoveries. The nature of lost media searches highlights the fragility of digital information and the persistent human desire to connect with the past, regardless of whether that connection is based on verifiable facts or an imagined or fabricated sense of nostalgia.

So, while lost media is not an aesthetic in itself, its connotations within online culture have given it a distinct character. The combination of mystery, nostalgia, the fragility of digital information, and the rapid decline of internet history have collectively shaped the way lost media is perceived and discussed. The desire to reconnect with past experiences and cultural touchstones has popularized the search for lost media, turning these artifacts into more than just data points; they become tangible links to a shared past.

Lostwave

Lostwave is a neologism that refers to music with unknown origins, lacking information like song titles, artist names, recording dates, and release details. These songs often become the subject of online crowdsourced searches to uncover their history. The term "lostwave" emerged from these online investigations, taking the wave suffix from similar microgenres like Vaporwave. It is often juxtaposed with nostalgic aesthetics.

Notable examples include:

Subways of Your Mind

FEX - Subways of your Mind (original cassette DEMO version)

The prolonged search for "The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet" is a prominent example of Lostwave. This song, later identified as "Subways of Your Mind" by the German new wave band FEX, was recorded from West German radio station NDR in the mid-1980s. Darius S. recorded the song onto cassette tape, removing the DJ chatter, which contributed to the difficulty in determining its air date. The song circulated online for years before gaining widespread attention in 2019, thanks to Gabriel da Silva Vieira's efforts on Reddit. The search involved speculation about DJ Paul Baskerville's possible connection to the song. Ultimately, in 2024, Reddit user marijn1412 identified the song, and FEX members subsequently performed it on NDR.

Ulterior Motives

This picture of a pink boombox has become synonymous with the online hunt for "Everyone Knows That," a mysterious Lostwave song that took the internet by storm in 2021.

Another notable instance of Lostwave is the song initially nicknamed "Everyone Knows That," later identified as "Ulterior Motives." In 2021, a user named carl92 uploaded a 17-second snippet of the song to WatZatSong, claiming it was from a DVD backup. The search for this song also gained momentum over time, with a dedicated subreddit formed to track leads. Theories about its origin ranged from MTV broadcasts to commercial jingles.

In 2024, the song was identified as "Ulterior Motives" by Christopher and Philip Booth, from the 1980s pornographic film Angels of Passion. The term "Lostwave" gained traction in 2019 with the creation of the r/lostwave subreddit, dedicated to distinguishing such searches from the specific case of "The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet."

Panchiko

The indie band Panchiko serves as a significant example in the history of Lostwave. The band, formed in Nottingham between 1997 and 1998, consisted of Owain Davies, Andy Wright, Shaun Ferreday, and John. Influenced by artists like Radiohead, they produced music in their basements, culminating in the EP D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L in 2000. The EP, described as a blend of various genres, was distributed in limited quantities. Despite some label interest, the band disbanded in 2001.

In 2016, a copy of D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L surfaced on 4chan, discovered in a charity shop. The disc rot on the CD created distorted audio, adding to the mystique. The online community's search for information about the band gained momentum in 2017 when the distorted audio was uploaded to YouTube. In 2020, the band's lead singer, Owain Davies, was located through Facebook, revealing that the band was unaware of their online following.

Following this rediscovery, the band reformed, with Andy Wright remastering their earlier work. The remastered and original versions of D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L, along with unreleased material, were reissued in 2020. Panchiko continued to release music, both new and from their earlier period. They recruited new members, began performing live again in 2021, and toured the United States in 2022. Panchiko's story demonstrater the role of online communities in rediscovering lost music and the potential for these discoveries to resurrect forgotten artists.

Controversies

The popularity of Lostwave has also attracted opportunistic individuals seeking attention or notoriety through fabricated lost media. These hoaxes exploit the community's enthusiasm and desire to uncover hidden musical gems. "La Canción de Alicia," later identified as "Dreams 4ever" by the Peruvian band Bad Influence, is a prime example. Initially shared on Facebook in 2019, the song sparked a multi-year search before its true origins were discovered in 2024. The long period of anonymity and the various theories surrounding its creation illustrate how easily misinformation can spread within the Lostwave community. Another example is "Digital Girl," a purported Lostwave song that was ultimately revealed as a hoax by its creator, a Reddit and WatZatSong user. The elaborate fabrication, including fabricated backstories and misleading clues, demonstrates the potential for manipulation and misleading content within online communities dedicated to lost media.

Internet Media

Internet media, such as livestreams, videos, blogs, apps, and obscure unreleased songs, face a high risk of loss due to technological shifts, website shutdowns, deletion by creators, or lack of archival. Media released exclusively through streaming services, without physical copies, can become legally inaccessible if the service's parent company removes them. This creates a situation where consumers have no legal means to acquire the media, rendering it lost. The Electronic Frontier Foundation highlights this issue, emphasizing that preservation in these cases often relies on individuals making and saving copies, potentially facing legal risks. This practice, sometimes referred to as "data hoarding," involves individuals actively collecting and preserving digital content, often with the goal of preventing its loss and ensuring its future accessibility.

The loss of internet media is directly relevant to many internet aesthetics and online communities, as they often draw inspiration from and incorporate elements of online culture, trends, and visual styles. The disappearance of websites, platforms, and online communities impacts the availability of source material and inspiration for these aesthetics. For example, the loss of content from platforms like Myspace has affected aesthetics that draw upon the visual styles and cultural trends associated with those platforms. This also extends to subcultures that were popular in the early internet, such as Emo, Scene, or Hipster, which often relied on these platforms for sharing music, visuals, and community building.

Similarly, the potential loss of content from platforms like Twitter/X and TikTok in the future could impact aesthetics that are influenced by those platforms. The disappearance of subcultural and aesthetic blogs, which often served as repositories of images, videos, music, and personal narratives, could be a major loss of primary source material and history for internet aesthetics. This includes platforms like Tumblr, where the 2018 NSFW purge, which aimed to remove adult content, also resulted in the deletion of numerous non-pornographic blogs that were important to various communities. Their loss can hinder the ability to trace the evolution of these aesthetics and understand their cultural context.

Screenshot of the Myspace music page, circa 2008. (AP Photo/Myspace)

The case of Myspace provides a stark example of the vulnerability of internet media. Myspace, once the most prominent social media website in the mid-2000s, hosted a vast amount of user-generated content, including music from both established and aspiring artists. However, in 2019, it was revealed that Myspace had lost a significant portion of its music archive, potentially over 50 million songs, due to a server migration issue. This loss affected all content uploaded to the site before 2016, including photos and videos, not just music. While the exact circumstances remain unclear, some have attributed the incident to a faulty server migration project, while others are skeptical, suggesting that the cost and effort of maintaining the archive may have been a factor. The incident resulted in the loss of a substantial amount of music, representing a significant cultural loss, especially for artists who rose to prominence during the "Myspace Generation" and those whose work was primarily hosted on the platform. Although a small portion of the lost files were recovered and archived in the "Myspace Dragon Hoard," the vast majority remain inaccessible. Myspace has confirmed that the lost content is unrecoverable. This incident highlights the importance of initiatives like the Internet Archive, which actively work to preserve online content before it disappears.

The discontinuation of Adobe Flash in December 2020 is another key example of the vulnerability of internet media to technological shifts. Flash, once a ubiquitous technology for online games, animations, and interactive content, became obsolete, rendering a vast amount of internet content inaccessible. While some Flash content can be manually preserved through .swf files or emulation projects like Flashpoint, a significant portion remains at risk, especially older or less popular content that has not been actively maintained or migrated to newer platforms. This situation raises concerns about the long-term preservation of internet history and the potential for significant cultural loss due to technological obsolescence.

Other examples of significant internet media loss include:

• GeoCities: This early web hosting service, shut down in 2009, hosted millions of personal websites, representing a significant slice of early internet culture and individual expression. While some GeoCities content has been archived, much of it is lost.
• Google Plus: Google's attempt to rival Facebook, shut down in 2019, resulted in the loss of a substantial amount of user-generated content, discussions, and community interactions.
• Vine: This short-form video platform, incredibly popular in its time, was shut down by Twitter in 2016. Despite some Vine compilations existing elsewhere, the original platform and its community-driven content are lost.

Platforms currently facing a risk of future content loss:

• Twitter/X: The platform formerly known as Twitter, now X, has caused concerns about the potential for future content loss. Controversies surrounding its ownership and major policy changes, such as requiring users to be logged in to view content, have led to a mass exodus of users, sparking debate about the platform's long-term viability and the accessibility of the content hosted there. The requirement to be logged in hinders archival efforts, as it limits the ability of organizations like the Internet Archive to comprehensively preserve content. Additionally, X's value has significantly declined since Elon Musk's acquisition, with Fidelity estimating a nearly 80% drop as of October 2024. This decline and the uncertainty surrounding the platform's future raises serious concerns about the potential for substantial loss of publicly available information and cultural record.
• TikTok: This platform faces ongoing threats of censorship and potential bans in the United States and the European Union due to security and privacy concerns. This has caused concerns about the future accessibility and preservation of the vast amount of content created and shared on the platform, particularly if a ban were to be enacted. Moreover, TikTok's focus on short-form videos, often designed for immediate consumption and rapid turnover, could translate to a high rate of content obsolescence in the future. This ephemerality is already evident in trends like the 2025 "bring back 2020" trend, where users express nostalgia for a relatively recent period on the platform, demonstrating how quickly content fades from memory on TikTok.

Film

Promotional poster for the lost 1967 Filipino film Batman Fights Dracula.

A lost film is a feature or short film for which the original negative or copies are no longer known to exist in any studio, private, or public archive. Films can be lost entirely or partially due to various factors. Early films, particularly those from the silent era (roughly 1894-1930), were often discarded after their theatrical run, as they were not seen as having long-term value. The nitrate film used during this period was highly flammable and prone to degradation, contributing significantly to film loss. While the Library of Congress began archiving American films in 1909, not all were retained. Improvements in film technology and record-keeping have reduced the loss rate for films produced since the 1950s.

Occasionally, films suspected to be lost are rediscovered in uncataloged or miscataloged archives or private collections. While U.S. copyright law required depositing a copy of every American film with the Library of Congress, the Library was not obligated to keep them. Estimates indicate that approximately 75% of silent films are lost, with only a small percentage existing in their original format. Of sound films made between 1927 and 1950, roughly half are believed to be lost. The term "lost film" can also refer to deleted scenes, unedited versions, or alternative cuts for which footage is no longer available. Partially lost films have some surviving footage but are incomplete. Stills taken during production can sometimes provide visual documentation of otherwise lost films, occasionally allowing for near-complete reconstructions.

Intentional destruction, nitrate film decay, and fires are primary reasons for film loss. Studios often discarded films, particularly silent films, to save vault space or to reclaim the silver content. Nitrate film's flammability led to numerous archive fires, destroying vast film collections. The chemical instability of nitrate film also causes it to decompose over time. While safety film was introduced, it initially had its own issues and wasn't widely used until later. Some early sound films using sound-on-disc systems have been lost due to the loss or destruction of the separate soundtrack discs. The work of many early filmmakers and performers is now only accessible in fragmentary form due to these various factors. The films of stars like Theda Bara and Clara Bow are prime examples of this loss. Conversely, the filmographies of some directors and performers, like D.W. Griffith, Mary Pickford, and Charlie Chaplin, are relatively complete due to their efforts in preservation or the survival of prints.

While film loss is less common after 1950 due to safety film, color fading and "vinegar syndrome" pose threats to later films. Some early pornographic films, B movies, and films by cult directors are also lost. Additionally, some short sponsored films and early works of certain actors have been lost. Early color films sometimes survive only in black-and-white versions. Some 3D films exist only in 2D format. Original versions of films that have been revised or re-edited can also be destroyed. Lost film soundtracks, particularly stereophonic recordings from the early to mid-1950s, are another area of concern, often lost due to neglect or the degradation of magnetic film.

The 1965 MGM vault fire stands as a significant event in the history of film preservation and loss. On August 10, 1965, a fire broke out in Vault 7, a storage facility on the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) backlot in Culver City, California. An electrical short ignited stored nitrate film, causing an explosion and fire that destroyed the vault's entire contents. While some reports indicate a fatality from the initial explosion, other accounts dispute this. The fire resulted in the loss of numerous silent and early sound films produced by MGM and its predecessor studios.

MGM, unlike some studios, had made efforts to preserve its early film catalog, including those from Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and Louis B. Mayer Productions. The studio had even begun a nitrate film preservation program, transferring prints to safety film. Despite these efforts, the vault fire destroyed the only known copies of hundreds of films. While MGM's preservation practices resulted in a higher survival rate for their silent films compared to other studios, the fire still caused irreparable damage. Among the films lost were Lon Chaney's A Blind Bargain (1922), London After Midnight (1927), and Greta Garbo's The Divine Woman (1928). The fire brought to light the inherent dangers of nitrate film storage and the fragility of early film archives.

Artworks

Marcel Duchamp's Fountain (1917), photographed by Alfred Stieglitz. This image captures the original version of the artwork, which was rejected from the 1917 Society of Independent Artists exhibit and is now lost. The backdrop is Marsden Hartley's painting The Warriors.

Lost artworks are original pieces of art that credible sources or material evidence suggest once existed but cannot be located in museums or private collections. This includes works known to have been destroyed, whether deliberately or accidentally, or those lost due to neglect or lack of proper care.

Numerous lost artworks are documented in databases like the Art Loss Register, a commercial database tracking lost and stolen art, and the FBI's National Stolen Art File. A prominent example is Marcel Duchamp's Fountain (1917), a readymade sculpture consisting of a urinal signed "R. Mutt." One of the most iconic pieces of Dadaism, the original version submitted to the Society of Independent Artists exhibition was rejected and subsequently lost, making it a significant case of a lost artwork with major art historical implications.

Various search and recovery efforts have been undertaken throughout history to locate missing artworks, often in response to significant loss events like wars or natural disasters. Examples include the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program ("Monuments Men") during World War II and the Bureau of Revindication and Damages in Poland after the war. A long chronology of notable events leading to art loss spans from antiquity to the present day, including earthquakes, fires, wars, thefts, and deliberate destruction. This chronology provides a historical context for understanding the ongoing issue of lost artworks and the diverse factors contributing to their disappearance.

Video Games

Lost video games are a growing area of concern within lost media. Unlike physical copies of older media, video games, particularly digital downloads, can vanish when digital stores close. Examples include games on platforms like the Wii Shop Channel, V Cast Network, and the Nintendo eShop for Wii U and 3DS. Even high-profile titles like P.T., a playable teaser for the cancelled Silent Hills game, became inaccessible after its removal from the PlayStation Network. The Video Game History Foundation estimates that a significant majority of American video games released before 2010 are out of print, which raises concerns about their potential disappearance.

This situation has caused major debate in the gaming community about the responsibility of video game publishers to ensure the ongoing accessibility of their games. Some argue that publishers have a duty to preserve games for both creators and fans, while others contend that consumers are justified in resorting to piracy when legitimate access is unavailable. Phrases like "If buying is not owning, piracy is not stealing" and "You'll own nothing and you'll be happy" have become popular within these discussions, reflecting anxieties about the increasing control that publishers and platforms have over digital media, and the limitations this places on consumer ownership and access, especially with the potential for digital game stores to close or change their offerings, making previously purchased games inaccessible.

Video game preservation efforts are undertaken by organizations like the Video Game History Foundation and individuals like the YouTuber The Completionist, aiming to counteract this loss. They seek to preserve video games for their cultural, historical, and educational value, as well as for the nostalgic connection they provide to players.

Literature

A lost literary work is a document, literary piece, or multimedia item for which no surviving copies are known to exist. This term often applies to works from the Classical world but is increasingly relevant to modern works as well. Several factors can lead to the loss of literary works. The destruction of original manuscripts and all subsequent copies is a common cause. Ancient libraries were particularly vulnerable to destruction through deliberate acts, accidents, neglect, or war. Authors sometimes destroyed their own works or instructed others to do so after their death, though these instructions were not always followed (e.g., Virgil's Aeneid).

The survival of some works is attributed to various factors. Archaeological discoveries, such as the Nag Hammadi library scrolls, have yielded lost texts. Some works were preserved by being incorporated into bookbinding materials, quoted in other works, or written over as palimpsests. The discovery of Cicero's De re publica and the Archimedes Palimpsest are notable examples of recoveries from palimpsests. Lost works can also be rediscovered in libraries, mislabeled or as parts of other books. Compilations like Pliny the Elder's Naturalis Historia provide information about otherwise lost works. The limited number of handwritten copies before the printing press era increased the vulnerability of works to loss. Deliberate destruction, termed literary crime or vandalism, also contributed to the disappearance of numerous texts.

Music

Lost music (not to be confused with Lostwave) encompasses a broader range of missing or inaccessible musical works. Lost music includes any musical composition or recording that is no longer accessible in its intended form. A significant portion of early musical recordings, particularly from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, are considered lost. The Library of Congress estimates substantial losses within this period. For example, only a small fraction of the wax cylinders produced by the North American Phonograph Company in the late 19th century are currently preserved. This loss stems from various factors, including the fragility of early recording formats, inadequate preservation efforts, and the destruction or discarding of materials.

Lostwave, a more recent phenomenon, primarily deals with existing recordings lacking information about their creators or origins. While related, Lostwave differs from the broader category of lost music by focusing on extant but unidentified recordings, often the subject of online searches and identification efforts. It is important to note that many Lostwave songs are more accurately described as "semi-lost," meaning the recording itself exists but identifying details are missing. This contrasts with truly lost recordings, which are no longer accessible in any format. Examples like "Subways of Your Mind" and "Ulterior Motives" are significant examples, as online collaborative efforts can sometimes recover information about these obscure recordings.

Resources

Databases

• Lost Media Wiki
• Lost Waves
• Lostwave's Finest Wiki (Fandom)
• Lost Media Archive Wiki (Fandom)

Discussion

• WatZatSong
• r/lostmedia (Reddit)
• r/lostwave (Reddit)
• r/DataHoarder (Reddit)

Archival Tools

• Internet Archive
• The Wayback Machine
• archive.is
• ghostarchive.org

See also

• Analog Horror and Digital Horror ─ These genres often incorporate elements of found footage and create a sense of unease and mystery surrounding potentially lost or corrupted media. The blurring of reality and fiction, along with the implication of uncovering hidden or forgotten information, connects strongly to the themes surrounding lost media discourse.
• Frutiger Family ─ This term encompasses aesthetics like Frutiger Aero and Frutiger Metro, which enjoyed widespread popularity in the mid-2000s and early 2010s. During its resurgence and popularization on platforms like TikTok, Frutiger Aero and other related aesthetics have often been juxtaposed with "lostwave."
• Hauntology ─ Hauntology explores the cultural and social impact of lost futures and nostalgia for a past that never quite was. Lost media fits perfectly within this framework, representing tangible remnants of those potential pasts and embodying the feeling of something missing or incomplete.
• Minimal Wave ─ Minimal Wave shares a similar allure with lost media in that its relative obscurity contributes significantly to its appeal. However, while Minimal Wave music is often difficult to find, it is not inherently lost in the same way, existing in some form and often actively sought out by music enthusiasts. The shared element is the mystique derived from limited availability.
• Northern Soul ─ Northern Soul's connection to "rare grooves" offers an interesting parallel to lost media. Rare grooves, like many lost media items, are often obscure and hard to source, particularly on their original vinyl format. This scarcity drives up their value among collectors. The connection to Northern Soul highlights how the thrill of discovery and the exclusivity of rare finds can spawn a dedicated community, similar to the interest in lost media. While rare grooves, including those associated with Northern Soul, are not necessarily lost in the strictest sense (many are now available digitally), the difficulty in obtaining original pressings creates a similar sense of rarity and historical significance.
• Nostalgia ─ Lost media often evokes strong feelings of nostalgia, both for the specific media itself and for the time period it represents. The act of rediscovering or searching for lost media can be driven by a desire to reconnect with the past and recapture a sense of familiarity or comfort.
• Vaporwave ─ While not directly equivalent to lost media, Vaporwave often samples and repurposes older media, sometimes creating a sense of fragmented or distorted cultural artifacts. It shares an interest in the past, albeit through a different lens, often exploring themes of consumerism, technology, the digital age, and the commodification of nostalgia.
• Webcore ─ Webcore's focus on the "Old Web" and its emphasis on early internet aesthetics and uninhibited self-expression provides a contrast to the current state of lost media, where much of that early content is now inaccessible.

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