RIAA: The Majority Agrees With UsIf by 'majority,' you mean 24 people... 12:33PM Thursday Jun 25 2009 by Karl Bodetags: legal · Op/EdLast week a jury found P2P user Jamie Thomas guilty of sharing copyrighted music files, with most reasonable individuals finding the $1.9 million jury-awarded penalty ($80,000 per song) incredibly excessive, and perhaps even unconstitutional. Post-victory the RIAA was rather reserved, though this week the organization -- which recently started blogging -- appears to be feeling chatty. In a blog post, the RIAA proclaims that the Minnesota jurors who deemed $80,000 per song reasonable reflect the opinions of "the majority," who don't want the content future to be a "wild west": This group of 12 Minnesotans showed us that, despite the protestations of some pundits who suggest that the digital world should resemble some kind of new wild west, the majority understands and believes that the same laws and rules we follow every day apply online. Not just in theory, but in practice. Another group of 12 people presented with similar questions said the same thing two years ago. That makes a sample size of only 24, but its certainly enough to learn from. Strangely the RIAA didn't blog the fact that one of the artists who's songs were magically valued at $80,000 (revenue he won't see), Richard Marx, said he was " ashamed" to be any way involved in the judgment: "As a longtime professional songwriter, I have always objected to the practice of illegal downloading of music. I have also always, however, been sympathetic to the average music fan, who has been consistently financially abused by the greedy actions of major labels. These labels, until recently, were responsible for the distribution of the majority of recorded music, and instead of nurturing the industry and doing their best to provide the highest quality of music to the fans, they predominantly chose to ream the consumer and fill their pockets. So now we have a "judgment" in a case of illegal downloading, and it seems to me, especially in these extremely volatile economic times, that holding Ms. Thomas-Rasset accountable for the continuing daily actions of hundreds of thousands of people is, at best, misguided and at worst, farcical. Her accountability itself is not in question, but this show of force posing as judicial come-uppance is clearly abusive. Ms. Thomas-Rasset, I think you got a raw deal, and I'm ashamed to have my name associated with this issue." Were the RIAA really listening to the majority, or even just the flood of critics suggesting alternative evolutionary paths in the age of broadband, they might actually learn something. Instead, the RIAA has been of the opinion that it makes more sense to punish customers and stomp around the Internet like myopic bullies. Were the RIAA's opinions really in tune with the majority, it's likely they wouldn't have to disable comments on their shiny new blog. Related:- What Network Neutrality Is REALLY About
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  Juan Valdez Spang-A-Lang
join:2003-10-21 Missoula, MT | Good times Does "the majority" only extend to everyone in the conference room at RIAA headquarters? -- Beat it. | |
|  |  |  |   en102 Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26 Valencia, CA 1 edit | Re: Good times Just the jury in that specific court room for that specific case -- Canada = Hollywood North | |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  gorehound
join:2009-06-19 Portland, ME
| I was going to go and post on their blog a big fuck you from me and 2 of my bands big meat hammer and the lynn rebels. we hate you RIAA !!! we will never buy music from any large corporate label !!! we will never buy music from any artist who signs with the RIAA !!! | |
|  |  |  PDXPLT
join:2003-12-04 Banks, OR
| Re: Good times said by gorehound :we hate you RIAA !!! we will never buy music from any large corporate label !!! we will never buy music from any artist who signs with the RIAA !!! That's the problem: 'near everyone is stealing it instead.
I heard someone comment on Michael Jackson's death: "Thriller" is the all-time #1 seller. That record will never be broken. People think they should get music for free. I heard no one's investing in new artists anymore, as the economic value of a song is inevitably approaching zero. Probably in the future, there will be no "big time" wealthy music acts. The idea that you can become rich with music will be an anachronism. Everyone will essentially be a small-time, local act, making money from live performances, donations, etc. Is this a bad thing? I dunno. But it is a drastic change, and the death of a large industry. | |
|   beta user
join:2008-11-10 Ontario, CA | Richard Marx Richard Marx finally released something worth hearing. -- Not quite a release candidate. | |
|  |  ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23 Tuscaloosa, AL
| Re: Richard Marx Agreed. I never cared for his music, but I have respect for the fact that he seems to "get it" regarding how the business abuses consumers.
Of course, what is he doing about it? I don't know if he's still releasing albums, but if he is, are they coming from a major label? | |
|  |  |   BF69
join:2004-07-28 Camden, TN
| Re: Richard Marx said by ISurfTooMuch :Agreed. I never cared for his music, but I have respect for the fact that he seems to "get it" regarding how the business abuses consumers. Of course, what is he doing about it? I don't know if he's still releasing albums, but if he is, are they coming from a major label Not only that he certainly accepts those royalty checks from the RIAA. | |
|  |  |  |   Eat Me
join:2002-09-25 Sussex, NJ
·PenTeleData
·Future Nine Corpor..
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| Re: Richard Marx said by BF69 :said by ISurfTooMuch :Agreed. I never cared for his music, but I have respect for the fact that he seems to "get it" regarding how the business abuses consumers. Of course, what is he doing about it? I don't know if he's still releasing albums, but if he is, are they coming from a major label Not only that he certainly accepts those royalty checks from the RIAA. Well the man has to eat. | |
|  |  |  |   Nightfall My Goal Is To Deny Yours Premium,MVM join:2001-08-03 Grand Rapids, MI
·AT&T Midwest
·Site5.com
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| said by BF69 :said by ISurfTooMuch :Agreed. I never cared for his music, but I have respect for the fact that he seems to "get it" regarding how the business abuses consumers. Of course, what is he doing about it? I don't know if he's still releasing albums, but if he is, are they coming from a major label Not only that he certainly accepts those royalty checks from the RIAA. Accept royalty checks from the RIAA = shill Speak out against the RIAA = still a greedy artist
Richard Marx just can't win. No matter if what he says is true or not in your eyes. :P -- My domain - Nightfall.net | |
|  |  |  |  russotto
join:2000-10-05 Collegeville, PA
| said by BF69 :Not only that he certainly accepts those royalty checks from the RIAA. Assuming they actually pay them, rather than using some convoluted accounting scheme to make them disappear. | |
|  |  |  TheWickerMan
join:2002-04-09 Enola, PA
| Re: What a crock said by Matt :The only reason the jury awarded them that much is because the defendant turned the trial into a complete farce. That damn trial was a farce to begin with. | |
|  |  |   Matt Gone playing Dragon Age Origins Premium join:2003-07-20 Jamestown, NC
·North State Commun..
| Re: What a crock said by TheWickerMan :said by Matt :The only reason the jury awarded them that much is because the defendant turned the trial into a complete farce. That damn trial was a farce to begin with. You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but anarchy cannot rule. Our society is based upon laws and she broke them. They offered to settle out of court but she refused to acknowledge her guilt and instead chose to allow a jury of 12 peers decide her fate. Whatever you think of the RIAA or MPAA, they have the law on their side and if you don't respect them, the process and procedures of our legal system have to be respected. | |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |   cableties Premium join:2005-01-27 | Re: What a crock She lied, jury felt it, jury punished her. I feel from what I've read, had she been honest, she might not have set this precedent for RIAA to wave the banner and start pursuing others... | |
|  |  |  |  |   Agreed2009
@rr.com
| Re: What a crock Agreed. They could not prove $80,000 worth of downloading by made by other people. Also, it's not like MP3 is a lossless format anyway. MP3 is a lower quality standard. So so did they even pro-rate this to a real CD? (320kbit/sec or higher) vs (128kbit/sec)? | |
|  |  |  |   KrK Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy Premium join:2000-01-17 Tulsa, OK | Re: What a crock Nope. It's an unjust sentence. | |
|   badtrip East Bay Premium join:2004-03-20 Albany, CA
·Unwired Ltd
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3 edits | Statistics This group of 12 Minnesotans showed us that, despite the protestations of some pundits who suggest that the digital world should resemble some kind of new wild west, the majority understands and believes that the same laws and rules we follow every day apply online. Not just in theory, but in practice. Another group of 12 people presented with similar questions said the same thing two years ago. That makes a sample size of only 24, but its certainly enough to learn from. ---------------------------- The guy/gal who said this needs to go back and take a high school statistics class. If anyone believes that inference based on the opinions of two juries not chosen by random is a complete idiot in regard to statistics.
As a matter of fact, a course in basic statistics should be required to graduate from high school so people have less of a chance for falling for this bowl of cowshit.
Edit: The guy's name is Joshua Friedlander. I would like his email address so I can send him this link:
»www.stat.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/co···t=SU&c=L
Edit Edit: Wow this guy is a real douche:
After graduating, Josh had the good fortune to combine his great loves of music and law enforcement (as well as micro management of small details) into the director of research at the Recording Industry Association of American... the notorious R.I.A.A. He has not been warmly welcomed on college campuses ever since. Through a few years of hard work, free concerts, lunchtime events with Capital Hill hobnobbers and "staff retreats" involving posh resorts and tennis matches, Josh was promoted to VP of Research.
»www.rebeccaandjosh.net/aboutUs.html | |
|  |  ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23 Tuscaloosa, AL | Re: Statistics Oh, they probably understand this just fine. It's called spin. If you repeat the same talking points enough, maybe someone will believe them.
I really have no idea why this is even news. | |
|  |   knightmb Everybody Lies
join:2003-12-01 Franklin, TN
·AT&T DSL Service
| said by badtrip :This group of 12 Minnesotans showed us that, despite the protestations of some pundits who suggest that the digital world should resemble some kind of new wild west, the majority understands and believes that the same laws and rules we follow every day apply online. Not just in theory, but in practice. Another group of 12 people presented with similar questions said the same thing two years ago. That makes a sample size of only 24, but its certainly enough to learn from.---------------------------- The guy/gal who said this needs to go back and take a high school statistics class. If anyone believes that inference based on the opinions of two juries not chosen by random is a complete idiot in regard to statistics. As a matter of fact, a course in basic statistics should be required to graduate from high school so people have less of a chance for falling for this bowl of cowshit. Edit: The guy's name is Joshua Friedlander. I would like his email address so I can send him this link: You'll find it here 
»www.rebeccaandjosh.net/index.html -- Fight Insight Ready (Was NebuAD) and the like: Click Here to pollute their data | |
|  |  |   badtrip East Bay Premium join:2004-03-20 Albany, CA | Re: Statistics hehe, ya I found that site pretty quick.
Unfortunately, it's a personal email addy and call me old-fashioned but I'd prefer to tease him at his professional address... | |
|  |  |  |   knightmb Everybody Lies
join:2003-12-01 Franklin, TN
·AT&T DSL Service
| Re: Statistics said by badtrip :hehe, ya I found that site pretty quick. Unfortunately, it's a personal email addy and call me old-fashioned but I'd prefer to tease him at his professional address... Ask and you shall receive. They really should patch that listing exploit on their Postini mail server, but you didn't hear that from me. 
It's jfriedlander@riaa.com -- Fight Insight Ready (Was NebuAD) and the like: Click Here to pollute their data | |
|  |  |  |  |   badtrip East Bay Premium join:2004-03-20 Albany, CA
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| Re: Statistics Good afternoon,
This morning I read your blog post,
»www.riaa.com/blog.php?content_se···le-Sizes
and couldn't help but notice your lack in the understanding of random samples in statistics. In order to improve your understanding, may I suggest one of the following courses?
»www.stat.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/co···t=SU&c=L
I know all three professors offering Summer 2009 courses personally and they are all world class statisticians. However, I would recommend Professor Ibser as he has a stellar reputation for teaching fundamental statistical concepts to folks that would otherwise be confused.
Warm wishes, | |
|  |  |  |  |  |   knightmb Everybody Lies
join:2003-12-01 Franklin, TN
·AT&T DSL Service
| Re: Statistics said by badtrip :Good afternoon, This morning I read your blog post, » www.riaa.com/blog.php?content_se···le-Sizesand couldn't help but notice your lack in the understanding of random samples in statistics. In order to improve your understanding, may I suggest one of the following courses? » www.stat.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/co···t=SU&c=LI know all three professors offering Summer 2009 courses personally and they are all world class statisticians. However, I would recommend Professor Ibser as he has a stellar reputation for teaching fundamental statistical concepts to folks that would otherwise be confused. Warm wishes, I feel as though my good deed for the day has been done. 
I sent him an e-mail to his personal address, offering similar advice and the link you provided. I wasn't mean or anything, just suggested he should take some courses to help him write more intelligent blogs in the future.  -- Fight Insight Ready (Was NebuAD) and the like: Click Here to pollute their data | |
|  |  |  |  |  |   digitalfreak
join:2005-12-09 49533 | Nice! If you get a reply back (yeah right), please post it here. | |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  backness
join:2005-07-08 K2P OW2 | Re: Statistics email of the month goes to.......... | |
|  |   Link Logger Premium,MVM join:2001-03-29 Calgary, AB
·Shaw
| This group of 12 Minnesotans showed us that, despite the protestations of some pundits who suggest that the digital world should resemble some kind of new wild west, the majority understands and believes that the same laws and rules we follow every day apply online. Not just in theory, but in practice. Another group of 12 people presented with similar questions said the same thing two years ago. That makes a sample size of only 24, but its certainly enough to learn from.
Perhaps juries are chosen differently there, but juries are randomly selected people who are then further 'selected' by the lawyers/etc on both sides so this wasn't a group of people hand selected by the RIAA so certainly some statistical inference could be made as the jurors would have been selected as being somewhat opinion neutral and un-bias so that the arguments of the law is the principle deciding factor. »en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_selection
Certainly based on two previous 'tests' the results of additional tests might be predicted, unless there were biases, but the process is meant to reduce those.
Now I'm representing the 'system' here and how it works, not a RIAA fan.
Blake -- Vendor: Author of Link Logger which is a traffic analysis and firewall logging tool | |
|  |  |   winsyrstrife River City Bounce Premium join:2002-04-30 Brooklyn, NY clubs:
| Works Both Ways alright then, if the majority (the jurors involved in the recent trials) agree that your legal practices are acceptable, then I can also say that since 1 person (Richard Marx) objects vocally, the majority of musicians/songwriters you claim to represent find your actions reprehensible. -- "Suddenly everything is fainting, falling from a broken ladder's rung. There's a jolt exhilarating from the phone I'm holding...I hear the words of what I'll become, how eager the hands that reach for love." - Blind Melon - New Life | |
|   DaveNJ No Fear
join:1999-09-01 New Jersey | There needs to be a boycott There needs to be serious boycott of the industry. But youth culture, and the mtvers, wouldnt do it for the little discomfort it proposes. I havent bought cd since 2002, and i think everyone else should do the same. | |
|  |  See 12 replies to this post | |
  ninjatutle Premium
join:2006-01-02 San Ramon, CA 1 edit | She fought the law....
I guess the law won. I hope she gets thrown out in the streets. | |
|  |   badtrip East Bay Premium join:2004-03-20 Albany, CA
·Unwired Ltd
·Comcast
| Re: She fought the law.... said by ninjatutle :The guess the law won. I hope she gets thrown out in the streets. Nice try but you should work on your subtlety a bit. | |
|  |   Bit Premium join:2009-02-19 00000 | What law was violated, it certainly wasn't Title 17? She was never proved to have infringed. Hosting files is not infringement so sayith Judge Neil Wake. -- POKE 65495,1 | |
|  |  albundyhere
join:2000-10-26 New York, NY | actually that would be quite beneficial to her and her 4 kids. Retribution is amazingly entertaining! I'd give the RIAA and its employees a day before its completely destroyed by media, people, and the entire world after this happens. | |
|   binded
@senescomarine.com | some one should some one should hack there networks and put there dirty lil secrets out on the intetnet for all to see | |
|   Bit Premium join:2009-02-19 00000
·VOIPo
·Cox HSI
1 edit | Meanwhile she was never PROVED to have infringed The judge noted that making available IS NOT INFRINGEMENT which was determined by a previous court decision by Judge Wake. IOW, simply sharing a folder is not copyright infringement under the law. This is clear in Title 17 and affirmed by court decisions.
said by Judge Wake : "The court agrees with the great weight of authority that section 106(3) is not violated unless the defendant has actually distributed an unauthorized copy of the work to a member of the public...Merely making an unauthorized copy of a copyrighted work available to the public does not violate a copyright holder's exclusive right of distribution."
An actual transfer to the public had to have occurred and the only proved transfer in this case was to an authorized agent of the copyright holder done at the direction of the copyright holder who under Title 17 determines method of distribution. The copyright holder can not infringe on their own work.
This $1.9M judgement was based on an ASSUMPTION which is total horseshit. I have run Kazaa before and have shared files that NEVER saw a single upload.
This is a travesty of justice. -- POKE 65495,1 | |
|  |  See 16 replies to this post | |
 ineedatech
join:2002-07-10 Fort Washakie, WY
| Fines way to high. The recording industry is trying to make a buck in a sagging economy. They are trying to keep their pockets full. This is sorry $80,000 per song???? I would think that would be for uploading at $.99 a song from i-tunes. However who was making the profit. I think a more reasonable fine would be like $500. | |
|   Dagda1175
join:2001-06-17 Goleta, CA
·Cox HSI
| Richard Marx is a hypocrite and a liar. He has been around long enough and easily has the money and friends needed to record his own music without being on the leash of a label. Fact is that he -and all artists- love the protection the RIAA gives them. It's nothing but their union bosses with some very long crowbars looking for knees. | |
|  |   Jason Levine Premium join:2001-07-13 USA
| Re: Richard Marx is a hypocrite and a liar. Actually, many artists don't like the RIAA. The RIAA isn't just abusing music customers (and pirates), but they are abusing artists also. A few years back, they RIAA snuck legislation into Congress to declare musical recordings "works for hire" so that artists would have no copyright claims on their songs. The artists revolted and the RIAA - under heavy pressure - got their Congressional flunkies to repeal the legislation. The RIAA only uses "for the artists" as a sound bite. They really don't care about the artists at all beyond how much money they can squeeze out of them before tossing them aside. -- -Jason Levine Support a children's charity. Buy a calendar and/or a photo book. Shooting For A Cause | |
|  |  Desdinova
join:2003-01-26 Gaithersburg, MD
| "He has been around long enough and easily has the money and friends needed to record his own music without being on the leash of a label."
Marx started his comments by specifying that he's a songwriter (and yes, I know he also has success as a performer). I haven't bothered to see what songs of his were shared, but even if he no longer has a recording contract with a RIAA member label, he still shares publishing with one. A standard part of any recording contract is a 50% share in publishing rights and royalties. The industry would love to take ALL publishing rights but federal law prevents them from having a greater stake than 50%. So he can still be uncomfortable with what the RIAA does with work he co-owns but he can't do anything to stop them, short of giving up his share (which wouldn't serve to change anything except reward the label further).
On the other hand, he COULD offer to help pay some of her legal bills...  | |
|  chronoss2009
join:2008-09-23
·TekSavvy Solutions..
| 2005-6 canadain stats of p2p use sept 2005 ...5.4 million simaltaneous users march 2006 .....9.8 million
with only back then about 15 million net users, whom is hte majority and just buy that sewed lil sample they ( the bad people LOL ) provided we can see p2p use is not decreasing and in fact it is a HUGE portion of hte population almost a 1/3rd of an entire country using p2p. Even with 18 mill net uses today what are the odds anywhere form 7-10 million are p2p'ing? that's enough to be come a major political force....
REMEMBER THAT | |
|   Bogger
| Here is how I see it. RIAA really misses the good ole days when there used to be LP. If you like a song, chances are you had to buy the whole album. Plus LPs wore out. When cassette recorders came out they wanted to ban them.
When metallic first hit the scene they endorsed fans recording their concerts and trading tapes. Now its a different story. Aerosmith has blamed piracy on their lose of revenue but then they havent really released a decent album in years. I guess they thought the gravy train would go on forever. So far Brittney Spears makes 100K a month. I dont think file sharing is going to kill her and I am not paying $100+ to go see her lip sync and dance around the stage.
Yes it is true that record companies release some albums and they dont sell and lose money. But when they have a hit album it is almost like backing a truck up to a ATM machine. If you look at their offices, what they wear and drive, I dont think they are hurting.
File sharing doesnt directly hurt the musician but actually the record company. If anything it helps the artist. Someone hears their music and wants to hear more of them and buys an album. | |
|  |  apollo80
join:2002-01-31 Richmond, VA | Re: Here is how I see it. Yep, that's pretty much it, Bogger. | |
|  |   Madness A flea circus at a dog show.
join:2000-01-05 Quincy, MA
·Verizon Online DSL
| said by Bogger :
RIAA really misses the good ole days when there used to be LP. If you like a song, chances are you had to buy the whole album. Plus LPs wore out. When cassette recorders came out they wanted to ban them. If the "good ole days" included the 80's, I used to buy mostly 45's throughout my child & teen years. Only rarely would I buy a while LP, & only then, if I liked the whole thing. I'd then make "mix tape" cassettes, but only for use in my Walkman (& later, my car deck).
By the early 90's, when records were said to be dying, I finally bought a CD player. Still made cassettes -- for the same above uses -- after I had discovered just how durable CD's were. The tapes still won, hands-down! -- No keyboard present or keyboard error. Press <F1> to continue.... | |
|  XknightHawkX
join:2003-02-13 Morton, IL clubs:
| BearShare? I went to the blog a minute was looking at some links and ended up looking at a list of legal sites to get music. I found Bearshare in that list. That's P2P loaded with spyware, or it used to be. Did the site get hacked and the Bearshare link get planted in it?
»www.riaa.com/toolsforparents.php···ic_sites
Right side, second one down. And it does go to Bearshare site. | |
|  |  nickstoy
join:2001-02-03 Notre-Dame-De-L'Ile-Perrot, QC
·Videotron
1 edit | Re: BearShare? said by XknightHawkX :I went to the blog a minute was looking at some links and ended up looking at a list of legal sites to get music. I found Bearshare in that list. That's P2P loaded with spyware, or it used to be. Did the site get hacked and the Bearshare link get planted in it? » www.riaa.com/toolsforparents.php···ic_sitesRight side, second one down. And it does go to Bearshare site. Firefox's WOT finds this site fishy also | |
|  damox Premium join:2002-01-07 Olympia, WA
·Comcast Formerly ..
1 edit | An Appeal is Certain No doubt the award and probably the verdict will be appealed. It's hard to imagine what formula the Jury was using when they awarded such an outrageous amount per song. I do not believe in pirating copy righted material, but I also cannot believe that $80,000.00 per song can be in anyway construed as reasonable. I could see maybe $100.00 per song or something like that. I am pretty sure the award will be substantially reduced up the line somewhere during one of the appeals. If not, Jamie will need to disappear and change her identity, possibly move to Spain or somewhere like that. That's what I would do if I were in her situation . . . should the award is not reduced. I don't really listen to music much anymore, except on the radio. I can't afford to buy the darn stuff, and I don't pirate. Now I hear that the RIAA is going after free radio, so eventually I may not listen to music at all. -- DAMOX | |
|   nixen Rockin' the Boxen Premium join:2002-10-04 Alexandria, VA
·Cox HSI
·Speakeasy
| If the "majority" agreed... The record industry wouldn't be in trouble: One) piracy would be exceedingly rare; and, two) people would be ecstatic to pay 99¢ (or even much more) per track rather than $80K/track. -- The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. -- Bertrand Russell | |
|   Zimbara
@telus.net | $$$$$$$ All songs should be worth $80k... 5 cents of that should go to the artist and the rest to the RIAA so i can enforce its new songs are worth thousands of dollars campaign... | |
|  |   Math checker
@comcast.net | Re: $$$$$$$ Anybody do the math and see that $80,000 goes into $1.9 million 23.75 times? How do you download only 3/4 of a song? | |
|  SlyLoK
join:2007-10-19 Sugar Grove, VA | Why should the artists care? Artists dont make their money on CD sales but on concerts / tours / merchandise..ect. Why should they care if someone downloads a song? | |
|   mmainprize
join:2001-12-06 Houghton Lake, MI
1 edit | downloaded or recorded ? So i also don't buy Cd anymore because any that i did buy in the last three decades have been crap. They just don't make albums like they use to.
Anyways, Even back in the 1970's i would record music off the radio, the seventy day, they would paly full albums. I have a case full of cassettes. I now record to disk and make CD's or MP3 but it is the same process.
So i am not downloading but i would guess the RIAA would say recording is wrong also. Now they want everyone to pay each time you hear a song, even radio may have to pay to play.
In the end all the artists can sit at the label office and listen to each other music and pay each other. | |
|   GlobalMind Domino Dude, POWER Systems Guy Premium join:2001-10-29 Hollywood, FL
| Sad, really. It really is unfortunate the pressure the labels have on artists. It's true. The RIAA doesn't care about artists. Likely never has. It's the labels they're interested in protecting.
There's no question that the industry should be able to protect its work and copyrights, but the sad part is that the whole thing is such a farce and that they're able to have the forum to spout off spindoctoring of data and misleading claims with little or no retort.
Anyone who objects is just dismissed as a pirate because afterall it's sooooo clear that the RIAA's position is beyond reproach.
Recently Glenn Beck sent one of his field people out to discuss his 'Common Sense' book with people who were self described liberals. Without knowing the author they agreed to nearly 100% of his points. And then were amazed with themselves when they found out who wrote it.
I think the same thing applies here. The idea "the majority" of people agree with the RIAA is vastly overstated, and again, those that disagree are anti-artist, anti-this and that Pirates. Again, blow them off and explain away the disagreement with more bully pulpit tactics.
To be honest, I'd say "the majority" couldn't count 30 seconds in the day where they think about this issue. Let alone agree with the RIAA when the facts are presented, which includes their relationships with the labels and ACTUALLY how the artists are treated.
Which is more reason for an artist to try and set up their own label, as some larger stars have done. I am actually amazed how many of the bigger names haven't done exactly that so they could control the whole process. -- TheGlobalMind.com / Speed costs money. How fast do you want to go? / Trust the instinct to the end, though you can render no reason. - Ralph Waldo Emerson / Free market capitalism is the best path to prosperity. | |
|  |  Desdinova
join:2003-01-26 Gaithersburg, MD
| Re: Sad, really. "I am actually amazed how many of the bigger names haven't done exactly that so they could control the whole process."
Most of them don't need to. The Madonna's and Paul McCartney's of the world are so worshiped by the industry that they pretty much get what they want. Unfortunately, artists with that kind of pull are few and far between and 99% of the rest are treated like barely sentient cattle. | |
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