RIAA Petitions Judges to Lower Artist Royalties

RIAA Petitions Judges to Lower Artist Royalties
Aggressively litigious group has claimed to protect musicians in the past. Now believes musicians deserve less for "innovative" music distribution.

The RIAA rose to public prominence around the year 2000 when the growth of internet file sharing and music piracy was blamed for rapidly declining album sales at the time. The RIAA's subsequent highly publicized and aggressive litigious action against those the group identified as distributors of copyrighted music, which has famously included grandmothers, single mothers in economic hardship, and children, won the organization little sympathy from the general public. While protecting copyrights is a fully legitimate concern, many believe the piracy that blossomed in first blush of the Napster and KaZaa was primarily due to the fact that there were no viable legal means to acquire music in mp3 format via the internet. That changed when Apple launched the iTunes Music Store, the subsequent massive success of which would seem to illustrate consumers' willingness to pay for music files on the internet if they are conveniently available.

In publicly defending its strong arm tactics and stated desire to scare consumers into absolute compliance, the RIAA has long cited the negative repercussions of piracy and lost revenue upon the recording artists that pour their talent into making the music that people like to hear. It's a sympathetic defense, yet in the past week the RIAA has made it quite clear whose profits the group is truly out to defend, and it's certainly not the artists who actually make the music.

http://gear.ign.com/articles/749/749883p1.html

Lawyers and accountants securing their economic futures.

...It's why I started an independent record label in 1996.

The whole piracy thing never was about the artists.
The most successful band in history was the Grateful Dead.
They encouraged their fans to freely trade tapes of their concerts.
That certainly contributed to their popularity.
And it still does. They periodically release concert CD's from their vaults.
Those of us who know and love those old shows are very happy to have
a pristine CD instead of the rough nth-generation tapes we have.

The same technologies that make piracy easy
also make it easy for artists to bypass the record companies entirely.

THAT is what really worries them!

You mean the recording industry isn't about the artists, music, and bringing different music to new audiences!?! I'm shocked! Shocked and amazed, I say! Imagine it -- corporate executives and lawyers daring to think that they are more important than the people who create the concepts or goods that they represent! Next thing you now they'll let only a few corporations will control most of the radio stations.

Nothing a really large can of insecticide couldn't cure. Either that or just turn on a light and watch the RIAA scurry under the refrigerator.

The way I see it is that the real shame of it is that there is a huge amount of music and talent that will never, ever be heard because it doesn't meet the idea of marketability that some pencil pushing geek considers worth it and figures that they couldn't get more than a few pennies from their blood sucking. But hey, shouldn't all music everywhere sound just like Celine Dion? That way they can continue to make money and keep everything nice and safe... and bland.