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"The record companies are like cartels, like countries, for God's sake," singer/songwriter Tom Waits says. "It's a nightmare to be trapped in one. I'm on a good label (Epitaph) now that's not part of the plantation system.

but according to the riaa membership page epitaph is part of the problem. i've been trying to avoid purchasing music from artists signed under labels that are members of the riaa. am i wrong to want to do this?

In the article, Tom Waits is quoted as saying:

It's a nightmare to be trapped in one. I'm on a good label (Epitaph) now that's not part of the plantation system. But all the old records I did for Island have been swallowed up and spit out in whatever form they choose.

But Epitaph is a member of the RIAA:

http://www.riaa.org/About-Members-1.cfm

Over the last few months I've wanted to buy a few new CDs, but each time I look up the label and find that they're in the RIAA, so I've refused to buy it.

What to do? Is there a way to avoid the label? To buy the music without supporting the label?

Or are labels like "Epitaph" good-guys, without any power to avoid RIAA's politics?

http://www.riaa.org/pdf/SummJudgmentMotion.PDF

Pages 47 and on refer to a reference by Kleinrock. So far as I can tell, this reference is not available on the RIAA's site.

with the scary side show she hangs out with of course

Midi disk players have to have build in copy protection under the home recording act(I thought I'd give you the RIAA link for a worst case senario!

its massive, its complex, its very very very hard for a novice to build, its only available from CVS at this time.

Yeah, I noticed, I tried to compile it some time ago. And inspired me to complain loudly about audio program interfaces. I'll never become a musician until a direct brain-to-CD interface is perfected (but I bet THEY wouldn't like such inventions). =)

Anyway, congrats to ardour folks if the 1.0 is coming up. There's just one thing I need to complain about: The documentation. At least with Blender, there was a printed manual and it's sitting right here in my shelf...

Wasn't that the price of a 30-second commercial during the last couple years of Seinfeld?

As nice as this is, a million dollars just isn't going to cut it against Big Media. Until we make this a national policy issue, one where actual numbers of voters are involved, we're pretty much screwed. Until then though, I suppose a million bucks can fund some studies and research to strengthen our position from a logical standpoint once the public realizes that they're being screwed.

"But Palladium will ensure our safety," said those of Troy.

A Third Hack on RIAA Site

Wonder if RIAA still thinks a law allowing legal cracking/DoSing is a Good Idea?

seriously... go see it right now, while it's still up... here

2002-08-29 21:36:13 RIAA Website Hacked, Content Altered (articles,news) (rejected)
Drawing yet more fire from file sharing enthusiest, the RIAA website was once again the target of rogue seperatist elements determined to deliver a message to the organization. Unlike the last DoS attack, this one seems to be limited to altering the website's content. Somehow, I just can't bring myself to pity them.

But why would we post this when we can post A Beginner's Guide to the Dance Dance Phenomena??? That's 12 of 12. Tards.

Well they should save money get broadband and and P2P the CD./

broadband costs about the same price as 1-2 cd's a month or 1 DVD.

The RIAA put this kinda spin on it...


"In all, total U.S. music shipments dropped 10.1 percent from 442.8 million units in the first half of 2001 to 398.1 million units in the first half of 2002. In dollar value, this represents a 6.7 percent decrease, from $5.93 billion in the first half of 2001 to $5.53 billion in the first half of 2002."


but didn't notice that a 10.1 % decline in shipments and only 6.7% in financial terms, means they put the prices up....

Since this story keeps getting rejected when I submit it I'll post it here (no disrespect to the posted story).

RIAA web site was hacked this morning. It looks as though they have noticed the hack and have since pulled the server from the internet. I did manage to find a screenshot before it went down.

Piracy can be beneficial to the music industry

Adult Entertainment

Wynton Marsalis Brings videos to Young People

Inside RIAA with Eric Cartman

Money Matters

Where can I find information on giant monkeys?

When will you offer free movies?

Are there subscription music services up and running?

Piracy can be beneficial to the music industry

Adult Entertainment

Wynton Marsalis Brings videos to Young People

Inside RIAA with Eric Cartman

Money Matters

Where can I find information on giant monkeys?

When will you offer free movies?

Are there subscription music services up and running?

Piracy can be beneficial to the music industry

Adult Entertainment

Wynton Marsalis Brings videos to Young People

Inside RIAA with Eric Cartman

Money Matters

Where can I find information on giant monkeys?

When will you offer free movies?

Are there subscription music services up and running?

Piracy can be beneficial to the music industry

Adult Entertainment

Wynton Marsalis Brings videos to Young People

Inside RIAA with Eric Cartman

Money Matters

Where can I find information on giant monkeys?

When will you offer free movies?

Are there subscription music services up and running?

Piracy can be beneficial to the music industry

Adult Entertainment

Wynton Marsalis Brings videos to Young People

Inside RIAA with Eric Cartman

Money Matters

Where can I find information on giant monkeys?

When will you offer free movies?

Are there subscription music services up and running?

Piracy can be beneficial to the music industry

Adult Entertainment

Wynton Marsalis Brings videos to Young People

Inside RIAA with Eric Cartman

Money Matters

Where can I find information on giant monkeys?

When will you offer free movies?

Are there subscription music services up and running?

Completely offtopic but go check out the RIAA website They've just been hacked.

So... we could use two ( or more ) specially trained attack geckos to pick up the 300 pound gorrila previously mentioned, and bring down the Evil Empire's pet?

So... we could use two ( or more ) specially trained attack geckos to pick up the 300 pound gorrila previously mentioned, and bring down the Evil Empire's pet?

That's a small girlish gorilla. Who's the real threat?

"Fair enough, but by your own admission you're triggering RIAA royalties to be paid."

I said almost all, because I'm not entirely sure. It's possible a band I checked on switched labels between albums. I certainly don't check every album for every band-- I check to make sure a band is on an indie label, and download. It's quite likely that I have never downloaded RIAA music from emusic, however, given that the RIAA-label albums from a band are usually the ones that aren't offered through emusic.

To be constructive, yes, your original post contained an important detail: emusic doesn't automatically mean you're boycotting the RIAA. You still have to check the list. But I don't think the fact that emusic allows you freedom in your music purchases is a count against it. I wish everyone would boycott the RIAA, but obviously most people feel differently.

Venturing OT (that's right, anyone still reading this old topic, now's when my post gets useless-- move along :) ), I want to clarify:

"It was said and in all truthfulness and your own comments affirm it as such."

Was it? Did you really "hate to burst [my] bubble"? You seem to be pursuing your attempt with a great deal of glee, actually. I suspect that you thought you were bursting my bubble, and enjoyed it.

I'm sorry to disappoint. However, if you really want to burst my bubble, I post fairly often here and on k5, and sometimes I make inaccurate or totally incorrect statements. If you check on my posts frequently, I'm sure you'll get an opportunity to do your bubble-bursting soon. If you're feeling really ambitious, I've got quite a posting history both places, and I'm sure there are a few inaccurate statements waiting for you. Enjoy. :)

Almost all of the music I download there is from non-RIAA labels. For example, Metropolis is one of my favorites, and non-RIAA. If I'm triggering royalties to be paid to a non-RIAA label, I don't really care-- Metropolis isn't funding draconian assaults on freedom. In fact, they're a great alternative to the RIAA members, and a lot of bands have switched to them because of bullshit from the big labels.

"Well, I hate to burst your bubble,"

BTW, I've never heard anyone say that truthfully. Any time someone says that, I immediately downgrade my estimate of the veracity of what they're saying, because they're already lying. :)

Well to me personally the difference is that the library has temporarily transferred the rights of listening to the music to the borrower. It can be clearly defined that when one person or entity has paid for the use of the music, and only one person or entity is using that music at any given time.

Software companies, even Microsoft, used to state in their standard EULA's that you were allowed to make several copies of their software as long as it was only being used in one location at any time. These allowances (which imho should be declared as implicit anyway) have now dissapeared from the EULA's -- possibly because the companies believe it's too hard or inefficient for them to enforce. Instead "independent" organisations like the BSA, the MPAA and the RIAA have been formed by the corporate cartels to crack down on and frighten by legal threats anyone doing what the company decides it doesn't like, under the guise of IP law and in a way that they hope will never be decided on at a court that actually matters.

A peer-to-peer information sharing network doesn't naturally have this transferral of rights, because the information isn't moved. It's copied. Letting someone else use it doesn't prevent you from using it at the same time. If you look at a typical peer-to-peer music sharing network, this is exactly what happens. A few people buy something, and their versions of it are duplicated and shared many times between many thousands of people, all of whom are using it simultaneously and independently when often very few people have actually paid for it. Irrespective of how right or wrong anyone might believe it to be, this is nothing like how a library works.

For the love of God, please vote for her!

Vote for her because her ideas rock.

But also vote for her because she is running against Howard Coble, who is in the back pocket of the RIAA.

If you love the First Amendment and hate the DMCA, send Grubb to Congress!

i guess i should provide more information :)

i agree completely with you. what file shareing has enabled me to do is find bands i would not hear on the more popular mediums: radio/tv. as a result most of the music i listen to comes from independent artists. while there are a few artists i like who are signed under an riaa label, most are not.

i've recently stopped purchasing music from artists signed under labels who are members of the riaa. at least i wont purchase them new. i have however purchased some used-do you have an opinion on this? i would also like to write some artists explaining my position to them. does anyone know where i can get addresses of different artists?

http://www.riaa.org/About-Members-1.cfm -- RIAA member list

Lets not forget to put a link to the RIAA Website, wouldn't want them to miss out on a good Slashdotting.

If you don't want to be linked to, don't put your stuff on the web.
And use open standards, too, dammit!
The web was built for the free sharing of information for the good of all. If you're to damn greedy to share, get the fuck out.

Stupid motherfuckers don't understand that's what the web's all about.

Well, I've seen the RIAA member list linked quite often by people interested in completely boycotting the RIAA...

You average music listener doesn't give a shit about the RIAA. It's an industry group. Most people going to the site already have a firm stance on the issue of the RIAA one way or another. Blocking the site is just a silly token gesture that hurts the actual activists.

Since some definitions of P2P networks are broad enough to include the web, I suggest they begin by targeting major nodes here, here, and here. Rumor is they're the worst offenders. Shut them down and maybe everything will be fine again.

My commentary on this, of course.

A typical music fan who buys a CD might use that CD at home, take that CD in the car, make a tape of that CD, - or using it as part of a compilation, play that CD with friends and for friends, and keep that CD for many years. That's probably why most consumers, when asked, describe CDs as a good value. At the same time, when asked directly whether CDs cost too much, some consumers will say yes! Why the contradiction? Because some consumers don't understand why the sales tag on a CD is so much higher than the cost of producing the actual physical disc, a cost, which in fact, has decreased over the years.

Yes, its cheap to make a cd. Agreed.

While the RIAA does not collect information on the specific costs that make up the price of a CD, there are many factors that go into the overall cost of a CD -- and the plastic it's pressed on, is among the least significant. CD manufacturing costs may be lower, but it takes more money than ever before to put out a new recording.

Yes, this is true too... Go on.

Of course, the most important component of a CD is the artist's effort in developing that music. Artists spend a large portion of their creative energy on writing song lyrics and composing music or working with producers and A&R executives to find great songs from great writers. This task can take weeks, months, or even years. The creative ability of these artists to produce the music we love, combined with the time and energy they spend throughout that process is in itself priceless. But while the creative process is priceless, it must be compensated. Artists receive royalties on each recording, which vary according to their contract, and the songwriter gets royalties too. In addition, the label incurs additional costs in finding and signing new artists.

And for all that work, they make a good 50 cents off the 20 dollar cd.

Once an artist or group has songs composed, they must then go into the studio and begin recording. The costs of recording this work, including recording studio fees, studio musicians, sound engineers, producers and others, all must be recovered by the cost of the CD.

Guess who pays for it? That 50 cents the ARTIST made.

Then come marketing and promotion costs -- perhaps the most expensive part of the music business today. They include increasingly expensive video clips, public relations, tour support, marketing campaigns, and promotion to get the songs played on the radio. For example, when you hear a song played on the radio -- that didn't just happen! Labels make investments in artists by paying for both the production and the promotion of the album, and promotion is very expensive. New technology such as the Internet offers new ways for artists to reach music fans, but it still requires that some entity, whether it is a traditional label or another kind of company, market and promote that artist so that fans are aware of new releases.

Guess who pays for that? The artist - not RIAA. Again, from the 50 cents...

For every album released in a given year, a marketing strategy was developed to make that album stand out among the other releases that hit the market that year. Art must be designed for the CD box, and promotional materials (posters, store displays and music videos) developed and produced. For many artists, a costly concert tour is essential to promote their recordings.

Very true.

Another factor commonly overlooked in assessing CD prices is to assume that all CDs are equally profitable. In fact, the vast majority is never profitable. Each year, of the approximately 27,000 new releases that hit the market, the major labels release about 7,000 new CD titles and after production, recording, promotion and distribution costs, most never sell enough to recover these costs, let alone make a profit. In the end, less than 10% are profitable, and in effect, it's these recordings that finance all the rest.

Again, true. The artists are suffering.

Clearly there are many costs associated with producing a CD, and despite these costs the price of recorded music to consumers has fallen dramatically since CDs were first introduced in 1983. Between 1983 and 1996, the average price of a CD fell by more than 40%. Over this same period of time, consumer prices (measured by the Consumer Price Index, or CPI) rose nearly 60%. If CD prices had risen at the same rate as consumer prices over this period, the average retail price of a CD in 1996 would have been $33.86 instead of $12.75. While the price of CDs has fallen, the amount of music provided on a typical CD has increased substantially, along with higher quality in terms of fidelity, durability, ease of use, and range of choices, including multi-media material, such as music videos, interviews and discographies. Content of this type often requires considerable production expense and adds a whole new dimension that goes beyond conventional audio.

Blah blah, I'm paying more now then I used to. I don't care - I want to pay less don't I?

In contrast, CD prices are low compared to other forms of entertainment and one of the few entertainment units to decrease in price, even though production, marketing and distribution costs have increased. In a USA Today article entitled, "Spending a Fortune for Fun: The cost of entertainment is rising along with our willingness to pay it ," the reporter observes, "though some factions of the industry see price resistance -- CD prices are relatively low and home videos rentals are still a bargain -- consumers don't seem to balk at the rising price of fun in this strong, family-friendly economy." The prices of other forms of entertainment have risen, on average, more rapidly than has music or consumer prices, with most admission prices for other forms of entertainment having increased more than 90% between 1983 and 1996.

Going to the movies doesn't cost 20 bucks. Renting a movie doesn't cost 20 bucks. And I get a MOVIE, not music out of that. Gee.

By all measures, when you consider how long people have the music and how often they can go back and get "re-entertained" CDs truly are an incredible value for the money.

By all means, the only thing entertaining I found was that you made such an incredibley large amount of money off a CD and are still ripping off the artists and consumers. Then you come along and print bullshit up like this.

Its no secret you make your money by dominating the market and paying off the government. How is a independant artist suppost to get by when he doesn't have the "hook-ups" to get his cd out to everybody? So he is forced to join the RIAA, just so he can survive, and hopes the benefits outweigh the consequences.

---
Ok, thats just my crummy opinion. Maybe its not true, I just felt there was a lot more BS on that page then usual.

Really people. The RIAA was set up by the big record labels for exactly this purpose: to take the heat. As long as the agency footing the stinky policies is "the RIAA" and not "Sony" "EMI" or whomever, the labels branding stays intact and the corporations get to retain the illusion of keeping politics out of commerce and culture.

The RIAA is comprised of a group of labels who are behind all of this. They are the ones who should feel the heat. It's the RIAA's job to be a scapegoat. Don't let them.

I was searching for info about CD prices, as a local newspaper said they were on the verge of dropping significantly. I came across the RIAA explanation why a CD cost so much. In typical Slashdot manner, I haven't actually read any RIAA stuff before.

Read it and weep. That should convince you what double-faced bullshit the RIAA is spurring about. A few extracts:

Then come marketing and promotion costs -- perhaps the most expensive part of the music business today.

So they tell us that a major part of the cost comes from advertising to us, which has no value for us? Great... (Okay, this is a bit beside the point.)

For example, when you hear a song played on the radio -- that didn't just happen! Labels make investments in artists by paying for both the production and the promotion of the album, and promotion is very expensive. New technology such as the Internet offers new ways for artists to reach music fans, but it still requires that some entity, whether it is a traditional label or another kind of company, market and promote that artist so that fans are aware of new releases.

Are they saying they pay the radio stations to play and promote their music? A bit of a contradiction I'd say...

Between 1983 and 1996, the average price of a CD fell by more than 40%. Over this same period of time, consumer prices (measured by the Consumer Price Index, or CPI) rose nearly 60%. If CD prices had risen at the same rate as consumer prices over this period, the average retail price of a CD in 1996 would have been $33.86 instead of $12.75.

The CD was invented in 1980. They're comparing the production price of a three-year-old technology to its price 13 years later? Oh, give me a break...

Here is the link to the RIAA's membership list. These are labels only.

http://www.riaa.org/About-Members-1.cfm

My computer feels so dirty after this...I think I'll write zeros to hard drive and rebuild my system just to get the bad taste out of my mouth.

Those SOB's at the RIAA still haven't gotten it... if they just keep quiet, then actions like the following will not be neccesary...

Click Here to help the /.ing of the RIAA website or alternatly click here

Members list

This is one of those urban myths like alligators in the toilet. MP3 is just a technology and the technology itself never did anything wrong! There are lots of legal MP3s from great artists on many, many online sites. The problem is that some people use MP3 to take one copy of an album and make that copy available on the Internet for hundreds of thousands of people. That's not fair. If you choose to take your own CDs and make copies for yourself on your computer or portable music player, that's great. It's your music and we want you to enjoy it at home, at work, in the car and on the jogging trail. But the fact that technology exists to enable unlimited Internet distribution of music copies doesn't make it right. To learn more about digital music, visit the Music and the Internet section.

I followed your informative link to the RIAA website. And followed to the "ask the riaa" link and found the interesting FAQ above. Sounds like they approve fair use of CD's (copying for personal use only). However, if this was the case, why are they pushing for copy-protection schemes?

I want to show my support of the RIAA.org and RIAA.com but I keep getting this message:

HTTP Error 403

403.9 Access Forbidden: Too many users are connected

This error can be caused if the Web server is busy and cannot process your request due to heavy traffic. Please try to connect again later.

Please contact the Web server's administrator if the problem persists.

So I'm going to send a message to the server's administrator as they have asked, to see what the problem might be...<giggle>

I want to show my support of the RIAA.org and RIAA.com but I keep getting this message:

HTTP Error 403

403.9 Access Forbidden: Too many users are connected

This error can be caused if the Web server is busy and cannot process your request due to heavy traffic. Please try to connect again later.

Please contact the Web server's administrator if the problem persists.

So I'm going to send a message to the server's administrator as they have asked, to see what the problem might be...<giggle>

Try once it's back up!

The record industry cannot see what it's doing wrong. From the RIAA themselves:

the most significant cost of a CD today is the marketing and promotion of that music.

And, as we all know, releases of tracks are far too over-promoted these days - why should we pay for promotion of music? The very fact that tracks are available on the internet before they're released indicates that somewhere, the track has been released, but not to the public. So, if the industry is being killed, this is what's killing it. The fact that so many people download the music before public release indicates that the amount of promotion could be scaled back, too.

Perhaps if music were released to radio stations and the public at the same time, sales would go up, as people keen to get their hands on new music would actually have to go to the shop and buy a CD, owing to the fact that they wouldn't be able to download it at first. The radio, rather than the Internet, would become the listening post for new music.

So much can be put down to poor management these days, it seems.

http://www.riaa.com

HTTP Error 403
403.9 Access Forbidden: Too many users are connected

This error can be caused if the Web server is busy and cannot process your request due to heavy traffic. Please try to connect again later.

Please contact the Web server's administrator if the problem persists.

---

LOL.

riaa.org is still up, keep at it. :)

Thank you for posting that helpful link to the RIAA website. This is a pressing issue, and as such, I urge everyone to go immediately to this website and show your support. Now, more than ever, the RIAA needs our love. So everyone, stop hammering the SSH site and give the RIAA the affection they so sorely need.

Thank you for posting that helpful link to the RIAA website. This is a pressing issue, and as such, I urge everyone to go immediately to this website and show your support. Now, more than ever, the RIAA needs our love. So everyone, stop hammering the SSH site and give the RIAA the affection they so sorely need.

Thank you for posting that helpful link to the RIAA website. This is a pressing issue, and as such, I urge everyone to go immediately to this website and show your support. Now, more than ever, the RIAA needs our love. So everyone, stop hammering the SSH site and give the RIAA the affection they so sorely need.

Thank you for posting that helpful link to the RIAA website. This is a pressing issue, and as such, I urge everyone to go immediately to this website and show your support. Now, more than ever, the RIAA needs our love. So everyone, stop hammering the SSH site and give the RIAA the affection they so sorely need.