Ethical dilemma: What do you do when a vanished independent artist scrubs their entire catalog, but you have the only remaining copies?

Years ago, I really liked this small independent artist, but they recently deleted all of their songs from YouTube and Spotify. They completely vanished from the internet, and because they were so small, no other reuploads exist anywhere(ive looked everywhere for it).

I somehow managed to have the mp3 file of the song. I’d love to contact them to ask for permission, but they are literally untraceable. I'm thinking of posting them so they aren't lost forever, but with a clear disclaimer and massage for the artist so heknows that he can just telle to delete all of it and i will immediately do so. Or should I just let it disappear? What's the best move here?

I think you should do it, and I don’t think you’re under any obligation to delete it at request either. Releasing art publicly means you accept that it may exist in perpetuity.

couldn't have said it better

There's probably a very good reason why this artist's songs aren't available. I would let it disappear instead of thinking I had the power to do whatever I wanted with music that was no longer publicly available.

Historical records should be unbiased. If we were to only publish what is convenient, half of our culture would have been lost.

Depends on where it’s released. YouTube or Soundcloud feels better for this as there it’s easier to make your intentions known in the description.

Just upload it to YouTube if possible. There's a possibility that someone else is also looking for the same song & artist.

Wait it out for a time. See if the artist resurfaces after a bit. I mean, they went dark for a reason and It's their art, so it's their right to do so. Enjoy the art for yourself and keep searching for the artist over time.

If you haven't found them by the time you're 80, and they're probably dead.. then you can post it.

As someone who has seen a lot of local bands come and go along with their Soundclouds…I wish I could listen to a lot of those songs again because they bring me back to the times when I first heard them. They’re special to me.

I can’t think of a better compliment to the songwriters than to let their art live on.

its been years tho ive been listening to them at start of highschool and then they vanished, and now im about to graduate college.

How terribly foolish! If everyone thought like you we wouldn’t have many great musical treasures.

I’m old enough that a lot of the small bands I was into only existed on cassette and that stuff is just gone if you don’t own a copy. There are a few things i Google occasionally to see if someone has uploaded but so far, no luck

i dont have SoundCloud probably would be on youtube with [ARCHIVE/REUPLOAD] on the title, last thing i want is poeple thinking im the artist, cause most people to lazy to read the description.