RIAA offers file-sharers amnesty!

[monkspider]

More good news, one man sued was in Romania at the time the RIAA claimed he was sharing files and has never even owned a computer while in the United States.

http://www.boycott-riaa.com/article/7777

Another man is sueing the RIAA over their Amnesty Offer.

http://www.boycott-riaa.com/article/7771

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by monkspider
Damn it all to hell Borie, it's time that you and I take a greater appreciation of Naxos recordings.

I already appreciate how well the CDs work as coasters.

[chequita guevara]

I think we should all stop buying cds.

[Boris Godunov]

Or just avoid RIAA sources. Get them used:

https://www.secondspin.com

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
I think we should all stop buying cds.

Excellent idea! Then rich capitaists will stop funding trash culture when the fast bucks are no longer there! The collapse of the music recording and distributing industry will go a long way towards suppressing the development of NEW Madonnas, NEW Eminems, NEW Tupacs, NEW Brittany Sperars, NEW Sex Pistols and so on and so on. Sure, the established "artists" ( Gaggghh! Cough! Cough!) may be able to continue scratching their way through on revenues from concerts, but new "artists" will find it very difficult to make their reputations without the backing of those very same RIAA member companies.

Do you know of any "artist" who has established himself by virtue of downloads fom the web?

DIE POP CULTURE DIE!!!

[mrmitchell]

I hope the RIAA goes out of business and is dissolved.

The good side of me hopes that their tactics show that they're becoming more desperate. The bad side thinks they're just getting more and more powerful and wreckless.

turns out cd sales have fallen over 50% in the seven weeks since they started this legal blitz.

*applause* Where can I get this info? I'd like to keep myself up to date on how much they're sucking.

[mrmitchell]

I think we should all stop buying cds.

Yeah. They're really pointless--if you MUST listen to whatever bull they put out, why don't you turn on the radio? Completely legal, too, unless the RIAA starts charging radio stations per user

[Soul Survivor]

well the record companies charge radio stations based on how many people the radio station's signal reaches

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by mrmitchell

Yeah. They're really pointless--if you MUST listen to whatever bull they put out, why don't you turn on the radio? Completely legal, too, unless the RIAA starts charging radio stations per user

If the record companies go bankrupt, then what? You'll be listening to internet radio recordings produced in someone's garage. That might have been OK for the tastes of the public in the 1950s (Motown, etc.) but not for today.

[mrmitchell]

Personally I don't find the tastes of the public today very appealing, thank you.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
If the record companies go bankrupt, then what? You'll be listening to internet radio recordings produced in someone's garage. That might have been OK for the tastes of the public in the 1950s (Motown, etc.) but not for today.

False dichotomy. There's no need for record companies to go bankrupt, so long as they embrace the future instead of trying to forestall it. The fact is that CDs are going to go the way of 8-tracks, and the sooner companies realize this and move to the future, the better off they will be.

As computer technology improves, such "garage" recordings--or, more likely, independent recordings made by artists directly or through small labels--will be of such high-quality that the big, expensive studios used today will be rendered bloated, unneccessary anachronisms. Through direct internet distribution, artists will promote their works without having to go through the stranglehold of the RIAA.

And bad artists, like Ms. Spears, will be far less-tolerated, as their musical and vocal ineptness won't be glossed over by studio execs looking to mint a talentless hot body.

[Nubclear]

DIE POP CULTURE DIE!!!

[JohnT]

"talentless hot body."



Oh, wait - that's right.



I also think that a shakeup of the current recording industry could likely result in an increased variety of "popular" music.

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov


False dichotomy. There's no need for record companies to go bankrupt, so long as they embrace the future instead of trying to forestall it. The fact is that CDs are going to go the way of 8-tracks, and the sooner companies realize this and move to the future, the better off they will be.

So how are they going to make their profits? There's no money to be made in giving away downloads. Smaller profits means less investment in promoting new artists.

As computer technology improves, such "garage" recordings--or, more likely, independent recordings made by artists directly or through small labels--will be of such high-quality that the big, expensive studios used today will be rendered bloated, unneccessary anachronisms. Through direct internet distribution, artists will promote their works without having to go through the stranglehold of the RIAA.

Internet distribution though doesn't reach audiences in the great mass numbers as does the relationship between the RIAA member companies and the radio stations, MTV, and VH-1. I already asked this question: Does anyone know of a musician or musical group that made its reputation via the internet?

And bad artists, like Ms. Spears, will be far less-tolerated, as their musical and vocal ineptness won't be glossed over by studio execs looking to mint a talentless hot body.

Yup. There will be a general decline in the number of new artists attaining national prominence. Pop culture will die. Classical music OTOH tends to be subsidized by governments and the rich.

Hehehehehe DIE POP CULTURE DIE!

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
So how are they going to make their profits? There's no money to be made in giving away downloads. Smaller profits means less investment in promoting new artists.

Who said anything about free downloads?

Look at the porn industry. Okay, stop looking now. I said stop...

Seriously, porn has seized on the internet revolution and has done exactly what RIAA companies should be doing--using the internet as a medium for selling their product. Porn sites which offer direct downloads of videos and images have boomed and continue to profit, even in the economic malaise. You can still buy DVDs and videos to get more bang for the buck, however. Porn stars aren't going broke.

Internet distribution though doesn't reach audiences in the great mass numbers as does the relationship between the RIAA member companies and the radio stations, MTV, and VH-1. I already asked this question: Does anyone know of a musician or musical group that made its reputation via the internet?

Such distribution WILL reach the audiences, when that is the predominant mode of obtaining music. Who among the consuming public wouldn't rather carry with them an mp3 player full of songs they've downloaded at a reasonable price--the playlist they can change at will at their computer--instead of lugging around a discman and a CD-carrier full of easily-damaged CDs that cost $15+ a pop to replace when they get scratched? That's the way the future will be, and if recording companies don't find a way to adapt to that new reality, they deserve to die. People won't put up with a more inconvenient and costly method of doing something because they've been threatened to be sued otherwise.

As for such musicians, I can't think of any, but then again, I'm an awful source, considering I know so little about popular and modern music. Regardless, plenty of people in other fields have made their reputation on the internet and have profited from it. Matt Drudge and Howard Dean are two names that spring instantly to mind. Why shouldn't the same hold true for musicians, once the stranglehold of the RIAA is gone?

Yup. There will be a general decline in the number of new artists attaining national prominence. Pop culture will die. Classical music OTOH tends to be subsidized by governments and the rich.

There will be an ascent, however, of truly gifted musical artists. In such an environment, one will have to be truly good to achieve prominence. Well, that's not totally true. See, people will still pay a lot of money to go see live concerts, so I can see that artists specializing in spectacle will still have some shelf life.

Oh, and most Classical venues aren't subsidized by the government. Having performed with a great many, I can attest that most are small outfits that are sustained by modest advertising from sponsors, individual donations from patrons and ticket sales.