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You are also right about some indie labels. They are just another marketing device for some big labels, to sell manufactured rock music to youths as "indie".

Someone made it incredibly easy for you to do this, too.

Are you sure White Stripes are non-RIAA?

Let's try to remember that ALL music distributed in 'North America' comes from labels associated with the RIAA. And they're not all "fifty year old yodelling tapes". Check out
RIAA Radar
to find music that could be played on a radio station that avoided the RIAA altogether.

Do your part to talk with your acquaintances and encourage them not to support the RIAA.

Whining on Slashdot won't get much accomplished. Convincing people that they won't be able to enjoy music how they like it in the near future will make a difference.

Just last night I carefully explained to a friend who enjoys listening to Cold exactly why she should take a look at which record labels publish those CDs. It's pretty simple--sure, you may be able to buy the CD now, but the next one might be copy protected. If you buy stuff that is put out by those who aren't part of this major media conglomerate, then you won't be encouraging such business tactics.

I don't know how much of my message was actually heard and how much was just glossed over, but by the time I finished talking she seemed to be at least a little more aware that there should be more to CD purchasing than just finding what you like.

For me, it is COMPLETELY about the record label. I use the RIAA Radar like nobody's business, and I try my absolute hardest only to buy CDs that come up clean when checked there. There are several highly-desirable purchases I refuse to make because I would be supporting the RIAA. It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make because I understand the implications of giving in.

Fortunately, my music tastes lean towards electronic ("techno"), which is quite predisposed towards free sharing and downloading. Right now I can give you URLs to four artists' music sites that allow you to download 128kbps or better mp3s of those artists songs without any DRM. There are plenty of indie labels and pro-P2P/sharing musicians out there in other genres, but it appears to me that my favorite type of music has the largest percentage.

Console drawback #1: Closed bootloader. Without a modchip or a buffer-overflow exploit, the consoles cannot run games from studios that aren't yet big enough to attract a Major Licensed Publisher's attention. Imagine a CD player that can't play CDs from outside the RIAA. Modchips violate the DMCA and foreign counterparts, and non-hackers would find it even harder to set up a buffer-overflow exploit (as seen in Phantasy Star Online for GameCube and MechAssault for Xbox) than to set up a dedicated gaming PC.

Console drawback #2: No widespread support for keyboard and mouse. Many players prefer to use a keyboard and mouse for some game genres such as shooters and battlefield simulations, but console games tend not to try to read them, even if you have a keyboard and mouse hooked up through the PS2 or Xbox console's USB port.

Burroughs cut up experiments were certainly influenced by the exquisite corpse game, and by Tristin Tzara's technique, but he did change the technique, by reusing words, using cut ups of phrases, pulling from multiple sources, etc. He also did some very interesting cut up experiments involving audio tape. There's a CD out called "Break Through In Grey Room" for those who are interested in such things (and unlike most WSB audio recordings, it's deemed safe by RIAA Radar).

Um, I'm sorry, but Wind-up is on the RIAA Radar.
They also produced the Daredevil Album.
'Nuff Said.

He may be selling some stuff direct, but according to RIAA Radar , his CDs are still being released through the RIAA.

RIAA Radar is an easy research tool to determine if an album is tainted by association with RIAA. The last couple hundred dollars worth of music I've bought has been non-tainted.

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

1. OK, here's really what we need - a system like MusicBrainz that can go thru and automagically tag everysong on your disc.

2. And then interface with the RIAA Radar to identify specifically the RIAA stuff vs. which isn't.

3. Then MOVE that stuff out of my shared folder - I don't *want* to share it. Better yet MOVE it to the TRASH...

I like electronica and sometimes underground hiphop anyway- I can live without FSOL and Jay-Z and certainly would much rather share out people more deserving of my disk space and bandwidth...

There are plenty of independent labels around that care to every thinkable (and unthinkable) type of music, except perhaps for Britney-type teenybopper acts.

The RIAA radar can be a good place to start looking.

Actually, given the discrepancy between Soundscan (who measure all sales) and the RIAA, who measure only member sales, the boycott is in fact working.

Sites like Downhill Battle, RIAA Radar and Canfli.

If you want to check and see if a band is RIAA.

Go Here: RIAA Radar

It's a Database of Albums and whether or not they're released by the RIAA. It's really thurough and will tell you down to each individual album wheter it's free of icky RIAA influence or not.

RIAA Radar was already mentioned, but I'd like to add that they also have a Top 100 Indie chart.

a good way to gauge indie artists is to go to riaaradar.com . some artists have indie and non-indie releases . buy the indie releases, P2P the others .

Or instead of re-inventing the wheel (yeah, I know this is slashdot) you could just use this

Replace the word "fuck" in parent with something useful (:

Replace the word "fuck" in parent with something useful (:

I would never buy music from an RIAA-owned company again.

Like the parent, I don't buy from RIAA-affiliated labels either. This can be annoying, but for the most part it's easy to maintain. I'm not buying the new Modest Mouse for instance, being that it's on Sony.

BUT I'm really curious about labels that are "distributed" by the majors. Take Sub Pop for instance. I was sure that back in the Nirvana heyday they were owned by DGC, which was in turn owned by Universal. Nowadays sites like RIAA Radar claim that their releases are "safe". But if they're being distributed by a major, is any cash from the sale of say, the last Shins album getting into the pockets of the RIAA?

Nobody seems to know this, can anybody point me to a good source of information on distribution deals and the RIAA?

I also don't trust the magnetbox.com site...it claims that NIN's "Pretty Hate Machine" is safe, but wasn't TVT bought up by Universal?

Bah. At least Matador & Drag City are safe.

I'm a big indie rock fan and I find this site to be a good break down of non-RIAA bands:

RIAA Safe Top 100

RIAA Safe Top 10 Alternative Rock

all based on Amazon Sales

I'm a big indie rock fan and I find this site to be a good break down of non-RIAA bands:

RIAA Safe Top 100

RIAA Safe Top 10 Alternative Rock

all based on Amazon Sales

half the people i know refuse to buy riaa-member label records and use tools like riaa radar to avoid them.

maybe if they'd stop suing their customer base, their customer base would actually buy their products.

just a thought.

RIAA Radar

Remember: spread the word, but don't sound like a fanatic.

So why is that this album gets this kind of warning?

Here use this link to be sure. RIAA Radar

You can be sure that the music you purcase doesn't support the RIAA efforts.

Then do what I did and stop buying it.

As soon as they said 'we're making CDs you can't rip or listen to in your only CD player (my computer)' they lost me.

I don't 'do' MP3s, so that is not a issue to me. But I do rip all my CDs to Ogg Vorbis, as quite frankly I'm a clutz and don't want to have all those CDs to sift through.

Besides, there are plenty of artists not on RIAA-sponsoring labels that are more then happy to let their listeners exersize their legal fair use rights. And a quick trip to the RIAA radar before you head to the store is most helpful. ;)

Other than looking for non-RIAA music CDs, there are sites with legally downloadable music. It's not the pop hits of the day, but sites like Epitonic.com have great music that you can download in MP3 form legally. Google can help you find lots more sites if that's not to your liking; these are just the ones I have bookmarked.

So don't support them. Don't buy RIAA music. If you're not sure, check on RIAA Radar.

Is there an easy way to check? Like a boycott search engine or something?

Yes.

(not everyone knows about www.riaaradar.com" unfortunately)

When you run the RIAA Radar, it uses Amazon Web Services to get the album information.

http://www.magnetbox.com/riaa/search.asp?searchtyp e=ManufacturerSearch&keyword=Righteous+Babe

Indeed, the album "Eisbrecher" is released by the label "Zyx" (who is not a RIAA member).

source

Gotta love that site :)

Actually, Ani Difranco's label (Rightous Babe Records) is unfortunetly part of the RIAA.

Check out RIAA Radar

This handy webpage page and bookmarklet will search for songs artists and albums that are produced by RIAA members. That way you can avoid them.

They also offer searches and collections for NON-RIAA aka Indie music.

RIAARadar

You can use RIAA Radar to check or look at their lists.

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

You can check out which music is RIAA-free at RIAA Radar. They even have a Top-hundred RIAA-free List

You can check out which music is RIAA-free at RIAA Radar. They even have a Top-hundred RIAA-free List

Since by buying the used CD you raise it's value in the market, and make it more likely someone will buy the CD new (either because it doesn't cost much more new or they can't readily find the CD used since it's in demand). If you really want to stop helping them go here and use it to stop buying music that supports them all together. I'm too weak though, several of my favorite bands have record contracts with the RIAA.

Isn't it funny how all the albums of system of a down (who *hate* the system and are supposibly anarchists) except 1 show up to be provided by the RIAA?

Crazy
RIAA RADAR

You can buy some music that is RIAA free. The site RIAA Radar helps you avoid paying indirectly to the RIAA.

RIAA Radar

Or you can pay to download Music with no DRM that is RIAA free from MagnaTune.

MagnaTune

unsigned? i think you mean non-riaa-signed. there are lots and lots of non-riaa labels run by folks who sign bands because they like the music, not the sales projections.

if yr looking for non-riaa music, try:

cd baby
the associatio of inedependent record labels
riaa radar
southern records
your local college radio station
or my local college station

that should keep you busy... and the riaa labels idle.

How about buying CD's from bands that aren't from the RIAA? I like punk rock, and most of the good honest punk rock bands aren't on the RIAA. If you're not sure who is (it can be hard to tell) try here and it'll tell you if they're part of the cartel. Good Stuff.

Here you go: RIAA Radar

Just thought I'd point out something funny... my favorite Band is the White Stripes, and I thought I would find that they were RIAA free, since I remember reading that they struck up a special deal that allowed them more control over their music as well as better than usual royalty rates. But it turns out that of all their albums, the only one that has definitely not been released under the RIAA is their single, entitled "Sympathy for the Recording Industry." Here's the link

I already posted this above, but it needs repeating.

Not all music labels are members of the RIAA. Just the big ones. Lots of great artists are signed with independent labels, many of those labels don't screw their artists, and many of those good independent labels are on iTunes.

Wondering whether your favorite band is RIAA-free or not? Click here...

The problem with Itunes is it takes the flawed recording industry and extends their monopoly.

Guess what? The iTunes Music Store has hundreds of thousands of songs from independent labels. Labels that are not members of the RIAA. Including many labels that give their artists much better deals.

I'm a jazz fan, so one of my favorite labels is Concord Records, with such artists as Poncho Sanchez and Karrin Allyson. Go ahead, log on and listen to them, you might enjoy it. And supporting them doesn't support the RIAA!

RIAA Radar is a neat site that lets you search for your favorite artist or label and find out whether they're RIAA-free or not.

Yup... they'll use Gestapo tactics and the fear factor to make you too paranoid to P2P your music. Nevermind that we buy from and give to China BILLIONS of dollars every year and those commie bastards pirate infinitely more music and movies and software than all of the free-world combined. And they do jack squat to stop them, but we'll sick the former Director of the BATF on you if you download a song.
I use the RIAA Radar to determine who is and isn't a member of RIAA. Then, DO NOT BUY music or ANYTHING associated with RIAA. I leech my tunes here and there and P2P isn't even a concern. I get all the latest releases at and sometimes before official release without any worries whatsoever. The BATF (Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms) tortured and then executed women and children in Waco because their religion wasn't BATF approved. Now, the psycho BATF Director is going to be the RIAA's head-hunter... great. To hell with them, all. The BATF, the RIAA, all the power trippin' freaks. DO NOT BUY ANYTHING ASSOCIATED WITH RIAA.