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very helpful tool to help not give money to riaa members
http://www.magnetbox.com/riaa/

Ironic perhaps, but I think you'll find that that particular album was released by the RIAA. link

That'll be five bucks please.

- The RIAA.

• The Decemberists {VERY highly recommended)
• Bloc Party
• Iron & Wine
• The Postal Service
• Fruit Bats
• Andrew Bird
• Los Straitjackets
• Neko Case
• Astaire
• Damien Rice
• Harvey Danger (in case you missed the story on them here a couple days back about them releasing their latest CD as a completely free download... OGG format and all!)

Well giving them money certainly won't help. DO NOT BUY FROM THE RIAA. Check RIAA radar before purchasing.

When people stop buying from RIAA labels, the labels are going to go to the government screaming piracy because they can show what they think the numbers should be they will blaim the loss of revenue from piracy. There will be no consideration of a Boycott. Then congress will start taxing things like burnable CD, digital media players, to make up for the lost revenue due to piracy. They've already tried to have laws passed allowing them to break into people's computers so they can investigate music piracy.

Congress only listens as long as the bribe money keeps coming. Do not fund RIAA lobbyists by buying from RIAA labels.

You're indies labels will be forced to start supporting the RIAA as well, because the equipment they use to press the CDs can be used to press pirate CD, the RIAA will demand a tax or surchange there. If they have them pressed overseas they will find a way of getting revenue from that too.

Indies don't need plastic. They have internet distribution. All the indies need is a paypal.

You reall want to stop the RIAA? You need laws like RICO, and Sherman Anti-trust. You need lots of independent lawsuits to bankrupt them. The RIAA and MPAA are predatory cartels, if you want to stop them boycotts aren't going to do squat, you have to sue them into oblivion.

That requires money be spent on lawyers and bribing congressmen. If you decide to take that route, please use proceeds saved by not buying RIAA albums to do so. You might want to pool your resources with others by donating it to someone like the EFF as well.

DO NOT BUY FROM THE RIAA. Check RIAA radar before purchasing.

Well giving them money certainly won't help. DO NOT BUY FROM THE RIAA. Check RIAA radar before purchasing.

When people stop buying from RIAA labels, the labels are going to go to the government screaming piracy because they can show what they think the numbers should be they will blaim the loss of revenue from piracy. There will be no consideration of a Boycott. Then congress will start taxing things like burnable CD, digital media players, to make up for the lost revenue due to piracy. They've already tried to have laws passed allowing them to break into people's computers so they can investigate music piracy.

Congress only listens as long as the bribe money keeps coming. Do not fund RIAA lobbyists by buying from RIAA labels.

You're indies labels will be forced to start supporting the RIAA as well, because the equipment they use to press the CDs can be used to press pirate CD, the RIAA will demand a tax or surchange there. If they have them pressed overseas they will find a way of getting revenue from that too.

Indies don't need plastic. They have internet distribution. All the indies need is a paypal.

You reall want to stop the RIAA? You need laws like RICO, and Sherman Anti-trust. You need lots of independent lawsuits to bankrupt them. The RIAA and MPAA are predatory cartels, if you want to stop them boycotts aren't going to do squat, you have to sue them into oblivion.

That requires money be spent on lawyers and bribing congressmen. If you decide to take that route, please use proceeds saved by not buying RIAA albums to do so. You might want to pool your resources with others by donating it to someone like the EFF as well.

DO NOT BUY FROM THE RIAA. Check RIAA radar before purchasing.

Check out the RIAA Radar.

If you don't want to support this kind of thing, don't buy any more music from RIAA labels.

Use RIAA Radar to find out if an album is published by an RIAA label. If that's the case, and you want it anyway, don't buy it new, but used (for instance at ebay, amazon marketplace or even a used records store).

Support independant labels and artists by buying their stuff!

If you'd still like to support a band that's signed with an RIAA label, go see them live (and maybe buy a t-shirt there).

and I'm still not sure what you're saying. When you buy major-label music on the iTunes Music Store, the artists get very little of your money. You're still giving most of it to the labels.

The independent artists still get a decent chunk from iTunes when you specifically buy their music, since the major labels don't get a cut and Apple wants to give the musicians more. The RIAA Radar can be a big help finding out who's 'clean'.

Support smaller bands, try to discover the other music that's available to you, by checking on Magnatune, and CDBaby, and even MySpace Music. When you buy from the bands on these sites, you know that most of your money is going directly to the artist instead of the middlemen.

They may have a record deal, but this album is RIAA free. So you shouldn't feel sullied if you paypal them some cash or buy their album. No funds will contribute to the litigation of minors. More to your complaint; No it isn't really novel, but it's nice that more bands are waking up to this intarweb thing. Maybe next time, they'll release source files like brad does. So they're OK with P2P... I wonder if they are cool with remixing too. That's probably too much to ask of a band doing this just to test the waters. Regardless, I hope this campaign is a success for them. It is evidence that the 'industry' is loosing mind share among its artists. If this succeeds, it will be more damaging to the RIAA than a simple court battle because more artists will follow.

http://www.magnetbox.com/riaa/

I've been RIAA free for over four years now, and believe me, there's precious little out there from RIAA represented musicians that you can't live without (as in none.) On the other hand, there is a TON of excellent, heartfelt, meaningful music out there not represented by the RIAA. I hope everyone here complaining about the RIAA is putting their money where their mouth is and not supporting a group whose policies you disagree with.

...do what you must but please don't support these labels.

And so for the first time today, we are introducing two new features to iTunes. First we will be introducing RIAA Radar labels on all tunes listed in the iTunes application. If the copyright of the song belongs to an RIAA member it can be flagged and will be by default... Just so you know who loves you ;-) The second feature is by far much more important. We will be introducing collaborative filtering at the iTunes Music Store. You see, the labels have left us no choice here. They won't let us sell you the music you know you like, so we'll help you find music that you'll love but you didn't even know existed." < cuts to new iPod commercial with steamroller driving over massive piles of CDs to the tune of We're Not Friends>

The labels believed that once one company forged a path, everyone else would follow leaving them king of their little fiefdom. Unfortunately for them, Apple was more like an ice breaker in the Arctic. They made their own path and the sea froze behind them. I was of the opinion that they were trying to kill iTunes because they see it as a genuine threat. After reading this article, I am convinced the labels are genuinely too stupid to realize their extremely precarious position. This is, in fact, not a strategy to kill iTunes because of the threat it presents. This is just greed. They really are that stupid. Too bad they don't see the end coming. It'll be like they've been shot in the back of the head. No crys of "Please, please don't kill me! I'll do anything you want! Just don't *BANG*" kind of thing you'd get if you shot them in the face. It's a shame too, because they really deserve to be shot in the face.

There will be no labels for new music soon. Bands will go direct to fans through iTunes, keeping the copyrights to their creations, and making six times the profit margin the old labels would have paid them. They will make the same money going 'gold' as they would have going 'platinum' the old way. You are witnessing a turning point in music history. Music is about to become very diverse and interesting again. Get ready for something besides the same old cookie cutter 'alternative' crap you've been hearing for the last 15 years.

• The Decemberists
• Bloc Party
• Iron & Wine
• The Postal Service
• Fruit Bats
• Andrew Bird
• Los Straitjackets
• Neko Case
• Astaire
• Damien Rice

Not only would this be a good time for Apple to implement this as a sign that they won't back down, it would finally free me of checking RIAA Radar everytime I go to the iMS to download a song!

http://www.magnetbox.com/riaa/ says its not RIAA. Maybe RIAA hacked them? :)

Well, check out RIAA Radar to see if the artist's label is part of the RIAA. If it's not, go right ahead and purchase. If it is, well... I've chosen to do without (which is a royal pain). I also support labels like Magnatune, Positron Records, and Metropolis Records. It's a little disheartening to not be able to pick up the latest Sepultura, Fear Factory, or Dream Theater albums, but I'll manage. It's all about discipline.

Well, check out RIAA Radar to see if the artist's label is part of the RIAA. If it's not, go right ahead and purchase. If it is, well... I've chosen to do without (which is a royal pain). I also support labels like Magnatune, Positron Records, and Metropolis Records. It's a little disheartening to not be able to pick up the latest Sepultura, Fear Factory, or Dream Theater albums, but I'll manage. It's all about discipline.

Start voting with your dollars

Pray tell me how we're supposed to do that when the very first people who get their grubby paws on our dollars, via taxes, are the people who are writing blatantly plutocratic laws.

Take for example Elvis(tm).The man has been buried in his backyard since '77 and yet his tunes won't be public domain until,What,2070? The whole point of copyright was so the artist would be encouraged to make more art,Not so some media corp could cash in for a couple on centuries.

And if they played by the REAL rules that this country was founded on we would have such a wealth of great music in the public domain that we might not be having this discussion right now. But thanks to the price fixing record companies(c) the music that was old when we were children won't be public domain until after we are dust (if ever).

The only way to fight other than privacy is your wallet.And for all you free software fans here is an easy way-http://www.magnetbox.com/riaa/-This page will tell you before you buy if an artist is in bed with the RIAA. There is even a grease monkey script for Firefox that will show you when you search Amazon which ones to avoid.

There are so many wonderful styles and great artists that aren't owned by the RIAA that by avoiding the bad guys(c) you might actually find some great new music for yourself while avoiding an Evil Empire(tm).

Independent labels. Plenty of good stuff on those, and they won't jerk you around with high prices and DRM like the RIAAs will. RIAA Radar and eMusic are excellent places to start.

If you do need an RIAA CD once in awhile then getting it used doesn't do anything to the bastards' bottom line.

DO NOT PURCHASE SONGS BACKED BY THE RIAA. It is only increasing their finances which are used to back legislation and smear campaigns to further erode fair-use rights.

RIAA Radar can help you find RIAA-free music.

Nice long rambling explanation there, but I can find used cd's for half the price of new. Used cd stores have overhead. I commonly find cds at CDBaby for $5-8 a pop. Certainly those guys have overhead and salaries to pay too. Downloads could certainly be cheaper. Of the 99 cents Apple charges at the iTMS, about 30 goes to the credit card processor, 10 goes to apple 10 goes to the artist and the other 50 goes to the record company, who by the way, have done squat diddly other than authorize Apple to sell the tune. (In contrast, unsigned Indies keep the lion's share of the 99 cents for their tracks.)

In short, I call bullshit. Explain it with gross/net margin, shipping, returns, price protection or whatever. We all know better. The prices 'the industry' charges are too high and the extra is going to the RIAA's Adolescents Litigation fund, the 'lobby congress for infinite copyrights' fund, the 'lobby congress for higher blank media levies' fund, and of course, payola.

Yet you sit there and tell me they aren't over charging even in the face of rock solid evidence to the contrary. Either you are badly misinformed or deliberately spreading lies. They are the thieves. They steal from me with blank CD levies. They steal from their customers with price fixing. They steal from the public domain with copyright extensions. I will never willingly give them another dime of my money. EVER.

Free & Legal Music
Boycott the RIAA
The shit list. Do no business with these labels.

but Apple's research appears to indicate that there more consumers like me than you.

CUSTOMERS

SALES TO END USERS ONLY
The iTunes Music Store sells products to end user customers only.

You will not find the word "consumer" anywhere in that agreement. The word consumer implies that I will somehow deplete my supply of music after it is purchased and therefore be compelled to buy more. Customers on the other hand have the prerogative to buy something else entirely or buy nothing at all. If you do not provide value to your customers, they will go elsewhere. The RIAA is simply witnessing that.

Did someone say Free Music?

• Artificial Genesis: Metamorphic(Dance Mix) -- Electronic/Techno
• T-Cells: Awful -- Metal
• UMB: In Your Head -- Alternative (Slow link, IUMA sucks...)
• Perfect Virus: This Day -- Industrial
• Third Degree: You Never Know Someone -- Punk Rock

All songs are RIAA free as far as I can tell. In short, I've already got the free music. The 'industry' hopes I haven't found it yet, so they'll trot out Shitney Beers or some other jailbait teen with more T&A than talent hoping I'll bite. The special interest groups can go f' themselves as far as I'm concerned. I don't buy, listen, or even want any of their crap, so they'd best keep their grubby hands out of my pockets.

I don't have an SO you insensitive clod! :-) Seriously though, the computer can be a good way out of **AA homogenous mind-control hell. It's all a matter of how you use it. The tools are so good/cheap/ubiquitous for musicians that amateur/independent music exists to shame anything the RIAA has available. No need for RIAA assistance or studios, just grab a copy of Logic Pro and do your thing. The computer allows me to check the RIAA Radar, to ensure I buy no music from baby-litigators. Finding good free/independent music is easier with collaborative filtering. I like iRate myself, but other collaborative ranking systems are available that make the process of separating wheat from chaff easier. The "music industry" as it was 10 years ago is now useless to me. I'd rather find tunes on iRate and paypal the cash for a CD at the band's website or through CDBaby.

As for video, the process seems to be in it's infancy. Already though, shows are popping up on P2P that were canned by the major networks but attracted a fanbase online. It won't be long before producers decide to release on P2P first and approach networks later.

Yeah, it's those damned colleges that are corrupting the moral values of America's youth while the RIAA stands for all that is just and good.

If you don't like the RIAA, just buy CDs from non-RIAA labels.

rather than not buying CD's, try not buying from artists who are signed to an RIAA label, to find out whether an artist is signed to an RIAA label check out the RIAA Radar: http://www.magnetbox.com/riaa/

You don't have to completely stop buying CDs - I stopped buying NEW CDs (except for those released under labels not affiliated with the RIAA).. Click here to find out whether a CD is or not.

I hit used CD stores all the time - not only do I get my music without supporting the RIAA juggernaut, I get it CHEAP. I can get 5 CDs for around 30 bucks or less (Pink Floyd, Aerosmith, Depeche Mode, Led Zep, VNV Nation, Holst, Vivaldi, KMFDM, and way more).

Plus, a number of used CD stores give indie artists an outlet for distributing their own music. I've both distributed my own and purchased others through lots of smaller shops.

You are flamebait and should be modded down. The Federal Court has already stated that merely downloading and making music files available on one's hard drive does not infringe copyright under current Canadian law.

They are not illegally swapping music.

What the CRIA wants is nothing more than a SLAP suit against individuals who won't have the resources to fight, while generating maximum publicity.

CRIA can think about this if they want - I'll be donating to the first defense fund announced, and I'll be waiting another 2 years before I ever buy music from a label listed on RIAA Radar.

What I generally do is d/l a bunch of tracks I've never heard of, and then I'll eventually go back and listen to them. If I find something I like, then I'll check to see if it isn't on an RIAA label http://www.magnetbox.com/riaa/If it's not an RIAA CD, I'll buy it from the label's web site. If it is RIAA I'll generally delete it in protest.

What I see as being the best future for music is a system where people can pay a monthly fee and download whatever they want (much like the napster model). Then the bands will get paid in accordance with how much their music was downloaded.

In my dreams I envision a system where people can go to a site and find music and d/l what they want for free. Then if they find bands they really like, they can make a donation (like a tip jar at a live show). The problem is there are a lot of tracks I'd like to give a dollar or less, but it's not feasable to make a CC purchase for each one. So I'd want to charge a larger amount (like $15 or so) and I could give tips as I find bands.

Other features of the site would be forums so that people can discuss music and find new bands from other people that have similar interest. It would also be pretty sweet to include information about the bands (bios, discography, etc.) and have tour schedules. That way people could have a one stop music site.

...I've had a bit more details on my site, but I'm too lazy to attempt to develop it. If anyone wants to start a soureforge project... My only request is that you not charge for d/l's or access. The only way I can see to make money would be to charge money to hosts MP3's (or people could have links to their own site for free).

A very useful tool for figuring out if an album was released by an RIAA label is RIAA Radar.

Like hell you say. I only buy non-RIAA affiliated music from CD Baby, or download free tracks with iRate. You know what? I like this stuff a lot better than most of the crap that passes for music on the advertising clogged radio and TV stations.

Want some? Here's a small sample:

• Metal - Celldweller (CD Baby)
• Electronic/Industrial - More Machine Than Man (CD Baby)
• Acoustic - Okkervil ("Westfall" via iRate)
• Rap - Poverty ("I'm Hatin'" via iRate)
• New Age - Circle of Mansions ("Sky Machine" and "Number Nine" via iRate though I cannot google a link for either ATM. Try "Left Me." That's good too)
• Electronic - Atari Baby ("Share your love (Aspect Mix)" via iRate)
• Easy Listening - Sheryl Clapton ("Magic Door" via iRate)
• Hard Rock/Metal - Dazychain ("Too Much God" via iRate)
• Industrial - Firewerk (CD Baby)
• Punk Rock - Limit ("Mr. DJ" via iRate)

The same will happen to the MPAA. It's only a matter of time. The MPAA fears bandwidth and BitTorrent. They say it's because of piracy. Either they are really stupid, or they think we are. They just don't like competition.

Magnatune

Also worth noting: RIAA Radar

Though I agree with most of what you say, I have one minor nitpick. They did not make the product. They simply conned other people into making music, and they sell the cd's. I suppose an argument could be that they made the cd's, but they alone are nothing more than coasters without the work of the artist. It could also be said that without the RIAA, the band would not be together. Most bands that are discovered by record companies (with the exception of fabricated boy bands) are already together, and already making music.

That said, I don't think that infringing on the copyright (pirating, stealing, whatever! It's all semantics) is the way to take down the RIAA and such. I simply vote with my dollar. I listen to local music for the most part, and, in the off chance I feel like listening to something more professional, I check with RIAA Radar to find out if the money from the CD I am considering purchasing is going to the RIAA. It's their choice to screw people over, it's my choice not to support that.

Assuming you mean $10,000 for 10,000 songs. If you buy CDs w/ an averate of 15 songs on them for $9.99 at Best Buy / Circuit City, you would have at least 667 CDs, which would have cost $6663.33. In the process you be careful, and only buy from non-riaa labels, and feel good about helping out some of the artists. It might be hard, but you could do it.
I fail to see why people think the only way to legitimately fill up an iPod is w/ iTMS singles.

Yeah, a site that adheres strictly to the RIAA Radar's listings.

Actually, most people do *NOT* have a problem ripping off someone who is honest and decent ... organizations like the RIAA fit into this category quite nicely so people have no problem with piracy.

What part of price fixing and suing children makes the RIAA either honest or decent? As a result of their honest, decent behavior I have personally decided to *never* give them another dime. I get music free, legally or I buy from non-RIAA bands. I actually spend a lot more on music now than I ever did before the file-sharing lawsuits, but obviously, they will not be benefiting from it :-)

There's a database called RIAA Radar that can tell you if an album is from a RIAA label.

They even have a nifty little script that you can save as a bookmark in your browser, and when you are on an amazon page you can just click it and it opens a page with RIAA information about the album in question.

I'm using it for a while now and it's quite handy.

Personally, I've been doing just that. I also let retailers know why I buy some music and give other music a pass. A Boycott is a "drop in sales due to piracy" unless you actually let people know that you're boycotting the RIAA

Obligatory links:

• RIAA Radar allows you to determine if a recording is distributed by a RIAA-affiliate.
• Epitaph has some of the best indy punk music available
• Audio Lunchbox has a great selection of tunes for purchase in MP3 or OGG Vorbis formats

Epitonic is a great place to listen to some tracks from independent bands and even has links to promote buying CDs from the bands -- after all, if everyone's griping about the artist not getting the funds, then when you do find music you like, you should support the artist. RIAA Radar is a good way to check whether the label is a member of the RIAA or not; if not, go buy a CD! If so, just check the used record stores and the RIAA doesn't get your money. Buying the independent music is a better move overall, though. And a recent comment on my weblog pointed out some other places to get music. (Gmail invites available there for additional suggestions, too.)

A good way to tell if an album is released by an RIAA member is to use the RIAA Radar website.

It's a good way to boycott the RIAA while still being able to buy CDs.

Or one could only buy from non-RIAA labels. See RIAA Radar http://www.magnetbox.com/riaa/ for a cool service to search for independent music. Also... Support metal! \m/

This land is your land, this land is my land
From the redwood forest to the New York island.
From the snow-capped mountains to the Gulf Stream waters
This land is made for you and me.

As I go walkin' my ribbon of highway
I see all around me my blue blue skyway
Everywhere around me the wind keeps a-whistlin'
This land is made for you and me.

I'm a-chasin' my shadow out across this roadmap
To my wheat fields waving, to my cornfield dancing
As I go walkin' this wind keeps talkin'
This land is made for you and me.

I can see your mailbox, I can see your doorstep
I can feel my wind rock your tip-top treetop
All around your house there my sunbeam whispers
This land is made for you and me.

"Was a big high wall there that tried to stop me
A sign was painted, said 'Private property.'
But on the other side it didn't say nothing.
This land was made for you and me."

• At an NPR story: here and here
• Here for more info.
• Here for info from the Woodiy Guthrie foundation.
• Here for the Lyrics from Arlo Guthrie, Woody's Son.
• 
  
  IMHO whoever claims to "own" this is as sick as the people who claim to "own" the image of Martin Luther King as property. See the commentrary at the internet archive: here.

I suggest everyone check out the RIAA RADAR, It has a list of most artists and their releases, and tells you if the artists company is RIAA or not. Check it out at: http://www.magnetbox.com/riaa/

Enjoy!

RIAA Radar is one of the utilities on the web you can use to avoid spending your money in ways that support the RIAA in favor of supporting artists who are not affiliated with the RIAA:

RIAA Radar is how...

According to RIAA Radar, the latest album, Nude, was released by 456 Entertainment. The first two albums were Elektra ones. They also have some online-only albums (two at ten tracks a pop, Crimson and Turquoise). I can't direct link the search, but you can do your own typing here.

And as a footnote, I've heard that the latest stuff is as pleasing as their first albums if you haven't had a chance to check it out yet. And their website makes the best use of functional yet artistic Flash I've ever seen.

You can figure out who is and isn't owned by an RIAA member using the RIAA Radar

You forgot to show her how to avoid giving the RIAA money at all... You're heart seems to be in the right place, but next time this happens, show them iTunes + RIAA radar. For those that want free, send 'em over to iRate. Encourage those who care to do these simple things, and bands will quickly find out how unpopular it is to be affiliated with those thugs.

The last three CDs I bought were by John Lee Hooker, Freddie King, and Eric Clapton/B.B. King. All of those CDs were released by a RIAA member, according to RIAA Radar. Do I care? In this case, no. These are some of the greatest blues guitarists of their generations, and I'd be a fool not to learn from them. Since I doubt any of them are going to show up on my doorstep offering lessons (especially since two of them are dead), I need to buy their CDs.

I agree, music is a culture. And where did modern blues orginate? In the United States. Delta blues (from the Mississippi river delta) and Chicago blues are born and bred US music styles, though the Chicago blues can be found with a very pleasant English twist (Eric Clapton, for instance). This is the culture and music that I want to experience, which means I will frequently need to "support" the RIAA, as all the classical blues musicians have released the vast majority of their work with RIAA labels. Until I feel very comfortable with my own style, I will continue to purchase the music of the masters.

Why are you so afraid of the RIAA? Do you seriously think they can win this fight? Do you honestly believe they can control all aspects of music in the United States? Not unless they outlaw instruments and musical styles. This will be as effective as the War on Drugs (indeed, all the legislation appears to be directed at "distributers" of copyrighted music). I do not morally support the RIAA or the tactics they use, but until a better option appears for people in my situation (the one you present - to look outside the US - is not valid for this situation, as I've previously explained) I have no choice.

I look forward to your response, in hopes that you come up with a viable option (and refrain from personal attacks).

When you are done venting, find some music without the restrictions. I would advise checking RIAA Radar before any purchase. We wouldn't want to help the bastards, now would we? Try my two favorite sources of DRM-free music: CDBaby and iRate.