# A popular singer I like retired and removed all her music **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [October 3, 2026, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-popular-singer-i-like-retired-and-removed-all-her-music/1033568 "2026-10-03T22:25:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2026, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-popular-singer-i-like-retired-and-removed-all-her-music/1033568/1 "2026-10-03T22:25:11Z")
The Japanese singer [Namie Amuro](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namie_Amuro) is one that country’s most popular artists. From 1995 to 2015 she sold over 30 million records. In 2018 she announced she was retiring from the music industry. Turns out she really meant it. In 2023 her entire internet presence was deleted: Her website, facebook, fan club, and her entire discography were all gone. You can no longer stream or download her songs. This is annoying because I had bought a bunch of her songs on iTunes back when that was my main music source, and they are all gone now. Removed from my device, apparently. Even though I had paid for them. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2026, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-popular-singer-i-like-retired-and-removed-all-her-music/1033568/2 "2026-10-03T22:55:17Z")
I understand this kind of event is why so many people are returning to buying physical media, so they don’t lose the content they paid for when a performer (label, publisher, etc.) decides to pull it. ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2026, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-popular-singer-i-like-retired-and-removed-all-her-music/1033568/3 "2026-10-04T00:05:01Z")
There seems to be plenty of her stuff available on YouTube. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2026, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-popular-singer-i-like-retired-and-removed-all-her-music/1033568/4 "2026-10-04T00:06:37Z")
I’m not 100% sure this works but when I buy music from iTunes tore, I immediately make an AIFF copy. I _think_ a recall purge from Apple would only take the “purchased” copy, because, how would it know about the newer AIFF copy? ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2026, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-popular-singer-i-like-retired-and-removed-all-her-music/1033568/5 "2026-10-04T00:20:18Z")
Some of her stuff is on eBay and Amazon. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2026, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-popular-singer-i-like-retired-and-removed-all-her-music/1033568/6 "2026-10-04T00:23:18Z")
It should be illegal for anyone to remove music from your device that you paid for. I don’t know if it is, but it should be. It’s okay if someone wants to stop selling something, but they shouldn’t be able to take something back once you’ve paid for it. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2026, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-popular-singer-i-like-retired-and-removed-all-her-music/1033568/7 "2026-10-04T00:57:31Z")
Yes, I discovered her CDs are still available some places. I probably will go that route. Of course, that’s a lot more expensive than streaming or downloading. But what can you do? ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2026, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-popular-singer-i-like-retired-and-removed-all-her-music/1033568/8 "2026-10-04T01:08:45Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > It should be illegal for anyone to remove music from your device that you paid for. You mean “licensed”. The law is on the mediaopolists’ side. I mean, if consumers mattered, it might be the way you said. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2026, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-popular-singer-i-like-retired-and-removed-all-her-music/1033568/9 "2026-10-04T04:59:04Z")
I’d just like to note that right now I could click a button and the entire Namie Amuro discography - all 2.82 Gb of it - would be downloaded to my computer’s hard disk within 55 minutes. I won’t click that button, of course, because that would be very illegal.