Riaa

[BTown]

Anyone here have a strong opinion on the RIAA?
I've recently been looking into it and it seems a little corrupt but I'm not sure if I have enough information as of now to have a well justified opinion on it.
What are your thoughts on the RIAA?

[sidewinder]

They are big meanies.

[mr dave]

how are they corrupt?

i'm not a fan but i don't see how they're twisting things to their advantage. the product they represent is being re-appropriated in ways they can't control without having gone through the proper channels to distribute it.

i think the reason it seems like they're so mean is because the value of individual songs seem inconsequential to most. while there's no specific dollar value to a piece of music there's still a demand for it and therefore there is a value. consider the amount of money dumped into an average studio album for a star. if you were the venture capitalist dumping a few million into the next lady gaga album wouldn't you want to make sure to recoup as much of your investment as possible? you wouldn't hire or sign along to an outside agency who's sole role is to protect that investment?

as far as i know the RIAA is only interested in copyright infringement based on music that is owned by the groups it represents. they're not trying to make mp3s illegal, they just don't want people sharing the music they represent. which admittedly is a large portion of the music available in north america... but it's not like walmart doesn't have a cd section or youtube doesn't host music videos...

[BTown]

I'm not looking to get into a debate or anything because like I said I know very little about them (like I said it seems like they are corrupt) but I was just looking around and read that they give very little money to the artists and when they sue people for music piracy tnone of the money goes to the artists.

[duga]

i'm sure they are as corrupt as any company in the US. it has actually gotten to the point, however, that i feel kind of sorry for them. they have been trying for years now to nail down illegal downloading and p2p programs. in a kind of stroke of luck for us, there is nothing illegal (yet) about a p2p program so as many as they smack down just as many and more will pop up. now that the internet is fast, using torrents is another obstacle they have to overcome...especially since there are quite a few artists endorsing the use of them. if your favorite band (or even a band you just like) says torrents are cool, you won't feel bad for downloading. along with the incredibly simple and legal ways to block access to your IP address, with little more than 5 minutes preparation you can start downloading a massive music collection with little worry. it really seems as if the riaa are fighting an uphill battle and their scare tactics are really not working. they will have to change their strategy totally before they become completely irrelevant.

same goes for major recording labels...as easy as it is to record master quality music in your home and post it on the web, there really is no need for a record label save for marketing. even then...make viral video on youtube and you are set.

the times they are a changin

[BTown]

I'm not basing everything I know so far about this issue on theese videos, but I think they do a good job of summing up what I've read.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W17XstflbXE

[lucifer_sam]

I did a bit of research on the RIAA last year for a report on the retrenchment of independent record stores, I have a bit of knowledge about them. I'm not really fazed by what happens to them but I have more than enough marbles floating around to realize why it's happening.

The RIAA's ongoing lawsuits with music "pirates" is nothing more than a scare tactic aimed at the general public, and it's costing the big four far more in legal fees than they could possibly hope to recoup in the lawsuits themselves. These attempts are largely fruitless, and are aimed at distracting people from the misguided blunders they made in the mid-90s, doling out huge distribution contracts to big-box retailers.

Right now the RIAA is at the mercy of the American consumer, after virtually raping the independent market of its share in the music retail industry. The egregious distribution contracts they negotiated for fifteen years ago are coming back to bite them in the ass as they're faced with increasing pressure from retailers like Wal-Mart and Best Buy, who are (unsurprisingly) cutting back on the shelf space they usually devote to music. The only other reliable source of income are online distributors like eMusic and iTunes, and the big four receive pennies on the dollar in that market.

Expansion for the major labels is out of the question at this point; they're desperately trying to hang onto the assets they have left. And so, left to its own devices, the RIAA is still trying to fuck the American consumer in any way possible.