Thousands of master tapes lost in Universal fire
I found this today, although it does not specifically mention Motown, it does mention a lot of other Universal labels.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/11/m...ecordings.html
This does not bode well for future reissues or remasters by many of the artists mentioned in the article but apparently this is just the tip of the iceberg...
Typical Record Company Negligence
I worked there for 13 years. There have ALWAYS been fires on that lot. By that time Universal Studios did NOT own the record division at that time, They still don't. It's the UMG behemoth now. Universal's film division had a " "Geographical Separation" Policy. Master films were in the Universal Studios vaults [[wood buildings) on the lot in North Hollywood/Universal City and in the salt mines in Kansas.
The record company management were highly and typically negligent. A roof fire occurred while workers were tarring it was all it took and spread when they went to lunch! When they came back all hell was breaking loose. The film folks were protected. The record masters were not.