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I doubt my purchases matter much in the grand scheme of things but I'm going to vote with my wallet anyway.

I do the same thing. I haven't purchased a non-indie cd in over 5 years Between RIAA Radar and CD Baby I'm always able to find new music. I like to think that all the revenue that the RIAA is claiming it lost due to thieves is actually from people like us voting with our wallet.

I check out RIAA Radar and hand over some scratch if I hear a song that I like and discover the artist is signed with an indie label. I doubt my purchases matter much in the grand scheme of things but I'm going to vote with my wallet anyway.

They matter a whole lot in the grand scheme of things.

I didn't want to be accused of spinning again ;)

But yeah, it is a mafia. Funny thing is that RIAA's antics have made me more likely to purchase music -- from non-RIAA labels. Before I was likely to just download whatever I wanted (yeah, guilty as charged) -- now I check out RIAA Radar and hand over some scratch if I hear a song that I like and discover the artist is signed with an indie label.

I doubt my purchases matter much in the grand scheme of things but I'm going to vote with my wallet anyway.

After all, the RIAA simply suggests you drop out of school to pay your fine.

So in this case, I'm sure they'll suggest she not go to post-secondary school and spends her school savings to pay them.

This is why I haven't bought an RIAA registered CD since 2001, and won't. Douchebags.

http://www.riaaradar.com/ ftw.

I have been listening to Pandora, discovering new artists, and had begun to buy music again

Please consider checking RIAA Radar when buying music that you find through Pandora. When you pay for content published on RIAA labels, you are literally paying people to fight against your interests as a music fan.

If people would simply stop rewarding stupidity, the RIAA would melt like the penny-dreadful movie villains they are.

Let's look at this from the other angle, if a indie band is wildly successful, but keep basically the same sound & never changed the way they do things from the technical or business angle, do they somehow lose their indie-ness?

BTW, Radiohead was a bad example because if you buy a the physical "In Rainbows" CD from them, it's still being published by ATO / RED records which is a RIAA affiliated label. So no, I wouldn't consider Radiohead indie. Nine Inch Nails would have been a better example.

Let's look at this from the other angle, if a indie band is wildly successful, but keep basically the same sound & never changed the way they do things from the technical or business angle, do they somehow lose their indie-ness?

BTW, Radiohead was a bad example because if you buy a the physical "In Rainbows" CD from them, it's still being published by ATO / RED records which is a RIAA affiliated label. So no, I wouldn't consider Radiohead indie. Nine Inch Nails would have been a better example.

think about how many people, friends, relatives, colleagues and alike, got adversely affected by what their acquaintance went through.

Not to mention absolute strangers. I don't have to know the kid, the disabled single mother, or the dead person who is target of the RIAA, in order to be appalled. For what is becoming a long time I haven't put a red cent into the coffers of RIAA member labels -- not the big four of Sony, EMI, Universal, and Warner, nor smaller members as identified by riaaradar.com.

Don't feed the beast.

That's so sad but so true. I guess the truth is I don't listen to mainstream music anymore. It's kinda something I don't want anything to do with and the greedy record companies are the reason.

I'm in a similar boat. My tastes were already leading me away from the major labels years ago, and a year or so ago I decided that my principles were demanding a complete halt to RIAA-member produced media. With the help of RIAA Radar, as well as just plain payin' attention, I've been able to make sure that anything that catches my eye isn't on the "bad" list. My main avenues for exposure are concerts and clubs, as well as just skimming bands' websites and pages on sites like MySpace and ReverbNation to find other bands connected to them.

The result? I have about 15-20 bands I try to keep up with and see when they tour through the Midwest, and pick up their CDs from the shows or order from their websites. This gives me enough new music to keep me going, and I'm typically adding another band to that list every couple of months.

There's always a little bit of a crestfallen moment when a band I really like announces on their blog that they've signed a deal with [insert major label name here], because as much as I want to keep supporting them, I don't want to contribute to feeding the beast, so to speak. I wish them the best, but since they'd end up with little/none of my money even if I were to buy their RIAA-produced CD, better it stays in my pockets than going to the major label.

Don't use the RIAA's list. they've repeatedly continued to list labels that oppose their tactics (e.g., Epitaph). Use the the RIAA Radar instead.

Hmmm.... According to RIAA Radar, "In Rainbows" was released on Ato Records / Red.

In any case, Ato Records / Red is a RIAA label, so I think your point stands.

The new Motley Crue album isn't on a RIAA label.

http://www.riaaradar.com/search.asp?searchtype=ASIN&keyword=B0018AK9QQ

Helps you identify what albums / bands / label are on RIAA associated labels. There's also a BPI Radar for all of you non-USA folks.

Disclaimer: I don't run the site, but I just use the site to make sure that my entertainment dollars are *not* spent supporting 'trade organizations' that I don't agree with.

I've been buying CDs since about 1992. At various times since then, my purchasing has dropped off due to:

- DVDs. I never bought VHS movies, but if I can get a DVD for $10, or a CD for $12, the CD doesn't win out often.
- Video Games. This market has exploded. Money is being diverted from somewhere to spend on these.
- Cell phone. A 'utility' that I choose to pay for monthly.
- Broadband. Another utility that I choose to pay for monthly. It's no $9.95 a month dialup.

That's why I always check to see if I'm buying from someone affiliated with the MAFIAA first. I won't be padding their litigious pockets.

We like open source around here. So you can keep your Hollywood shit. I, for one, am not interested in their offerings at all. I think you're confusing theft with a -failure to earn-

Uh, no I don't... My web browser controls what is loaded in a very fine tuned manner. When I load a page at slashdot.org, I only load what I want.

My browser didn't load those 'mc' and 'uid' quantserve cookies that are tracking people everywhere online from slashdot to hotornot.com. I did however load, store, and will later use the Slashdot.org cookies. I have granular control over all my cookies, and they are one click away.

At my command, my browser also blocks swf files, other known ad sizes, and blocks data entirely from known bad guys like doubleclick. If something does slip through, eliminating it is a simple control click away. The PERL wizards will appreciate that I can blackhole data based on regular expressions in URLs. Any domain, path, file extension... I can nuke it. It's certainly much more powerful than a hosts file.

My browser also blocks the popups that other browsers like Safari miss... If I need something that didn't get though, there's a little icon for everything that was blocked in the form of cookies, popups, images, etc on the status bar at the bottom of my window. Images and SWFs are a grey box. Hover and it tells me the domain. Click and it loads. Everything is one click away.

I can even change all of those settings on a domain by domain basis. My browser gives me complete control over what I load and what gets displayed. My browser even makes it simple to snatch images from websites like flickr that attempt to block me from saving images. I just view page info and there's an list of every image on the page. No more hunting through page source to find a image. Click the display button to see it. Click the save button to keep it.

I don't even have to load your front page to use your site in many cases. In my url bar, I type "google macdork site:slashdot.org" and I get a google search for "macdork site:slashdot.org." I can do the same with yahoo, msn, ebay... I can shortcut any search box on any site with one click simplicity. Why should I have to be subject to Yahoo's front page and their latest "Top 10 ways to spend your money" list and other info-tainment-mercials, when I just want to use their search engine without the distraction? For sites with different parameters like the RIAA Radar I can dictate which parameters are used in the search, so "riaakey" shortcut does a keyword search while "riaaart" does an artist search.

You two can bicker about who has "the power" in the arrangement, but reality dictates that you do not define what I can and cannot do with the data your web server spews at me. My browser is in control of that. You're only able to dictate your terms to people who use limited, crappy browsers. The entire ad based internet is based on that assumption. For people like myself however, I am able to view "your" content on my terms unless you decide to shut your site down. If anyone is wondering by now, I use Omniweb. Registered user since 2004. (^_^)

Just use RIAA radar to see if the album you want to buy is under a label associated with the RIAA. I've checked every time i've wanted to buy an album, and so far luckily they all (2) have been RIAA free. Whew, that was a lot of acronyms.

You mean to tell me that the RIAA are NOT the only ones who launch big music careers?

Somebody better tell them quick, surely this means the end of their business model?

http://www.riaaradar.com/ is a place to look for other artists that are not associated with the RIAA if you are interested.

Check out the RIAA radar site out to see what labels are associated with the RIAA too.

Actually, there is a website that ties the RIAA to recordings you may be considering purchasing. They also give a detailed structure of record label ownership and reasons justifying inclusion / exclusion of controversial labels from their index.

I prefer the convenience of a search engine like RIAA radar, but if you don't trust it, you could always go straight to the source.

Actually, there is a website that ties the RIAA to recordings you may be considering purchasing. They also give a detailed structure of record label ownership and reasons justifying inclusion / exclusion of controversial labels from their index.

I prefer the convenience of a search engine like RIAA radar, but if you don't trust it, you could always go straight to the source.

Actually, there is a website that ties the RIAA to recordings you may be considering purchasing. They also give a detailed structure of record label ownership and reasons justifying inclusion / exclusion of controversial labels from their index.

I prefer the convenience of a search engine like RIAA radar, but if you don't trust it, you could always go straight to the source.

The RIAA represents the big four and many smaller record companies. You shouldn't direct any special malice against Sony BMG... but identify songs by RIAA artists and then use your own judgment.

I actually prefer searching for songs that are distributed under Creative Commons-style licenses, as these are often pretty high quality and always free-and-clear of all litigation worries.

riaaradar A good site which will tell you whether an album has been released by a label associated with the RIAA. Do your research and support those who care about their fans.

A large predatory animal can be quite dangerous once wounded (by lack of CD sales) and will attack anything

By the same token, when a large predatory animal starts being a threat where they were a member of society, they find the community no longer will do business with him and only has a party when he is dead.

He hasn't yet figured this out to fix lagging CD sales. Some of the labels are figuring it out. The RIAA radar is a hint for some.

http://www.riaaradar.com/

Being listed here is a bad dent in sales. Failing to display the Compact Disc tm logo is another dent in sales as without it, DRM and copy protection problems are likely. A high price is also a factor as is participation in the loudness war. A few are getting it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gmex_4hreQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7t40xBpqfE

How about we stop buying their shit?

Done. I haven't knowingly purchased RIAA affiliated music in years. Yet I still buy and download quite a lot of non-RIAA music. I don't even listen to those radio stations anymore. You know the ones... they play the same 50 RIAA songs all week long. I listen to my local college station. Not every song they play is a hit, but you're guaranteed to hear different music every day. Don't have a decent college station? You can even listen online! Here's my local station. They're awesome. They even stream in ogg. Their playlist is online too, so when you hear a song you like, it's easy to check for RIAA-ness. If the RIAA bastards have anything to do with the music, just don't buy it. According to iTunes, I've purchased 12 songs this month. Not one thin dime went to RIAA affiliates.

PS. Fuck You U2. After reading your press release of late, I will never buy your shit. EVER. Nothing you can say or do will change that. You've joined the ranks of Metallica. Go straight to hell. I hope you get hit by a bus the next time you cross the street. You have the gall to ask "Who's got our money and what can we do?" Allow me to answer that here, since I'm required to join you website to send you feedback: "Who's got our money" The customer has the money. It isn't yours unless earn it. "What can we do?" You can drop dead. I'll never buy your music. I'll never support you in any way. I will will actively discourage anyone I know who might. Big mistake assholes. One happy customer might tell one person. One angry customer will tell everyone he knows.

How about we stop buying their shit?

Done. I haven't knowingly purchased RIAA affiliated music in years. Yet I still buy and download quite a lot of non-RIAA music. I don't even listen to those radio stations anymore. You know the ones... they play the same 50 RIAA songs all week long. I listen to my local college station. Not every song they play is a hit, but you're guaranteed to hear different music every day. Don't have a decent college station? You can even listen online! Here's my local station. They're awesome. They even stream in ogg. Their playlist is online too, so when you hear a song you like, it's easy to check for RIAA-ness. If the RIAA bastards have anything to do with the music, just don't buy it. According to iTunes, I've purchased 12 songs this month. Not one thin dime went to RIAA affiliates.

PS. Fuck You U2. After reading your press release of late, I will never buy your shit. EVER. Nothing you can say or do will change that. You've joined the ranks of Metallica. Go straight to hell. I hope you get hit by a bus the next time you cross the street. You have the gall to ask "Who's got our money and what can we do?" Allow me to answer that here, since I'm required to join you website to send you feedback: "Who's got our money" The customer has the money. It isn't yours unless earn it. "What can we do?" You can drop dead. I'll never buy your music. I'll never support you in any way. I will will actively discourage anyone I know who might. Big mistake assholes. One happy customer might tell one person. One angry customer will tell everyone he knows.

Yes, it's called the RIAA Radar.

http://www.riaaradar.com/

Enter Napster. Kids are copying music and distributing it over the internet. These corporations are now trying to sell a product that is often easier to get for free online. The iPod becomes the Walkman of the 00's. The labels fear P2P and mp3s and demand copy protection, which Apple offers them in the iTMS. Now they can sell their music online, which makes it easy to find, but control how it's copied and distributed. And it will play on the majority of players. Everything is getting back to normal, but they need more money. So they want to raise prices.

But things have changed. The labels no longer control the distribution channel of their product. Apple does. And Apple refuses to raise prices. The labels have tried other online stores, including creating their own (which is probably still their end goal), with little success because Apple will not license their copy protection, nor support other methods of copy protection on the iPod. While some governments are working to legislate this, the labels can not afford to wait for legislation to solve their problem. They are forced to make a choice.

1. Concede to Apple, sell all songs at a fixed price
2. Sell unprotected, iPod compatible files at other online retailers
3. Lose more market share

At the moment, the labels have opted to sell unprotected files on Amazon.com. If the labels can restore the retail market to at least what it was, then they can more tightly control the "authorized" distribution of their product. And for the unauthorized... While it doesn't accomplish their end goal of complete control of the distribution and retail sale of their music, it's a step closer. Apple loses some of its bargaining power, and the labels can call the shots again.

Option A will reinforce a reasonable business model that will benefit the industry, the artist, and you.

I disagree. While I would rather purchase non-DRM'd music over DRM'd music, simply because I like to play music on a number of devices; I don't believe the lack of DRM benefits artists. It may benefit me in the short term, but then again the labels might just be fattening me up to eat me. I would suggest that a solution that truly respects artist and consumer needs would: decentralize the production, marketing, and distribution chain; acknowledge that technology has lowered the cost of bringing an album to market, and pay artists appropriately; and stop intimidating law abiding citizens.

To accomplish this, we must:

1. Stop purchasing music from labels that support the RIAA
2. Support independent and local musicians. Go to their shows, buy their music.

By doing this, the artists get paid more, you often get DRM-free music, and innocent people

DRM'd to the eyeballs compact discs are NOT Redbook audio.

Just for grins, vist the music section of your local Wal*Mart or Best Buy and look at a few of the offerings. Grab 100 and then look for the official Compact Disc logo. Did you find it on over 5% of the disks? Consumers quit looking for the official product. They associate the packaging with a Compact Disc recording in a form of false advertising. Those who were paying the royalty for the official Compact Disc logo simply quit as the product sold just fine without it. Now that Defective by Design product is everywhere, it's time to let the labels know they have to be off the RIAA Radar and proudly display the official Compact Disc logo to boost their sales.
http://www.riaaradar.com/
http://www.cs.duke.edu/courses/spring05/cps182s/assign/project/fall03/mjt14_2/CDcopy.pdf

Copy Protected music should have the Worldwide Copy Control Icon, but many labels know this kills sales and don't bother including the warning.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copy_Control
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/03/25/1048354575685.html

I've never been big on downloading music illegally. I've tried it, but it just doesn't seem worth it when after finding a song you get varying levels of quality, missing tags, inconsistent naming conventions, and in the end you have a directory that looks like a tornado hit it. It is worth it to me to pay a buck to download a song, so I never paid much attention or cared about all this RIAA crap because I didn't think it affected me.

But i'm jumping on the bandwagon. I'm one of the RIAA's "good" customers, and the result of their ridiculous litigation is they've pushed me away, I have no desire to fund this crap any longer.

I know about RIAA Radar, which is nice to check up on music before I buy it, but I have to know what I want to buy beforehand. What would be nice is internet radio that plays exclusively RIAA-free music so I can discover new music without having to cross check everything with RIAA Radar. With the RIAA internet radio royalty scam i'd think there would be a lot of RIAA-free stations to choose from, can anyone suggest some good ones?

You're a couple years too late.
The past tense and verbal noun forms are taken as well.
Perhaps you could be "Dividing By Zero"?

You're a couple years too late.
The past tense and verbal noun forms are taken as well.
Perhaps you could be "Dividing By Zero"?

You're a couple years too late.
The past tense and verbal noun forms are taken as well.
Perhaps you could be "Dividing By Zero"?

I think you're right that RIAA endorsed labels do have many respectable bands signed, unfortunately. However - and I don't mean to insult your taste here - You should be aware that Nickelback is almost certainly the kind of [RIAA crap] band that the grandparent was talking about. Many people regard them as total sellouts and possessive to no actual talent or creativity, at least in the circles in which I run. There was the Digg story a while back that pointed to this interesting site: evidence of similarities between Nickelback songs. Regardless of whether you like them or not, they are a hit generator, which is exactly the kind of thing that they play on pop/rock radio. Anyway keep up the good analysis; just use better examples like Radiohead (which you also used). They are distributing In Rainbows under a label associated with the RIAA according to RIAA Radar.

Fortunately, the RIAA has nothing to do with the Czar Czar.

It took you this long to boycott them? Consider using RIAA Radar to help you determine which albums or artists are associated with the RIAA. Boycott made easy!

You can easily check if an artist, album or label belongs to RIAA using http://www.riaaradar.com/

Tag this 'commonsense'. Finally a record label who is starting to 'get it'.

What I want to know is how tight is the contract with the devil. In other words, if EMI decided to withdraw completely from the RIAA, do they have the same problem the artists have withdrawing from a label? Do the labels get to keep the music, or is the old stuff still RIAA protected property?

If EMI drops the RIAA completely and it removes their entire catalog from the RIAA contracts, I may find them listed on the SAFE section of the RIAA radar!

http://www.riaaradar.com/

There, fixed that for you. There's lots of smaller labels who have "got it" all along, but they're just smaller ones, and you don't hear their music on the radio, or on the TV.

This is a myth which is often driven by the amount of payola in the industry. If the RIAA lables owned the airwaves, there would be no need for payola. Payola is to get a larger percentage of RIAA label stuff played to displace other music.

Want proof. If you listen to the radio much lately, I'm sure you have heard most of the popular Christmas tunes. Just this morning I heard Carrol of the Bells by Mannheim Steamroller. They are on American Gramaphone records. According to riaaradar.com, the label is not an RIAA member.

It is true that there is a lot of RIAA label promotion in the media. I is not true that they are the only thing on the radio.

http://www.riaaradar.com/search.asp Plug in Mannheim Steamroller.
Album info:
Artist: Chip Davis, Mannheim Steamroller, Olivia Newton-John, Johnny Mathis
Album: Mannheim Steamroller: Christmas Song
Year: 2007
Label: American Gramaphone
RIAA Radar result: SAFE
http://www.riaaradar.com/search.asp?searchtype=AsinSearch&keyword=B000TWTBMC

There, fixed that for you. There's lots of smaller labels who have "got it" all along, but they're just smaller ones, and you don't hear their music on the radio, or on the TV.

This is a myth which is often driven by the amount of payola in the industry. If the RIAA lables owned the airwaves, there would be no need for payola. Payola is to get a larger percentage of RIAA label stuff played to displace other music.

Want proof. If you listen to the radio much lately, I'm sure you have heard most of the popular Christmas tunes. Just this morning I heard Carrol of the Bells by Mannheim Steamroller. They are on American Gramaphone records. According to riaaradar.com, the label is not an RIAA member.

It is true that there is a lot of RIAA label promotion in the media. I is not true that they are the only thing on the radio.

http://www.riaaradar.com/search.asp Plug in Mannheim Steamroller.
Album info:
Artist: Chip Davis, Mannheim Steamroller, Olivia Newton-John, Johnny Mathis
Album: Mannheim Steamroller: Christmas Song
Year: 2007
Label: American Gramaphone
RIAA Radar result: SAFE
http://www.riaaradar.com/search.asp?searchtype=AsinSearch&keyword=B000TWTBMC

Why on earth has no one mentioned Pandora? There's a surprising amount of music on there that isn't part of a big name recording company. It does a damn good job of introducing you to music you actually *like*. Toss in something you already enjoy, RIAA affiliated or not, and it will start playing similar music. Note the stuff you like, and give it a pass through riaaradar. While it's not intentionally aiming for indie/non-RIAA music, it's definitely a solid way to get started. And from what I've found, it really can branch out into the fringes a bit.

That being said, this is obviously just my personal experience. It's entirely possible that my particular style of music (Metal & Industrial) has a better non-RIAA showing on Pandora. So I guess your mileage may vary.


--LordPixie

Perhaps you should bitch to Amazon as well, because they also list Sony as the label. That's an even better reason to never listen to an Iron Maiden CD: Sony is the company best known here for illegally installing rootkits on user's PCs via audio CDs. I wouldn't play a damned Iron Maiden CD if you gave it to me. Who knows what other virus/trojan/rootkit Sony might have quietly slipped into the production line.

Label formerly known as Sanctuary? Wow, look at that: Sanctuary is on the RIAA member list. How odd...

Sorry sport, but the money comes from the buyer, not the website. By your logic, I should never use Google because they advertise the RIAA's music to those who search for it. I can't stop people that actively seek out and knowingly support the RIAA with *MY* purchasing habits. I can use tools like the RIAA Radar to prevent the RIAA from receiving any money from ME.

RIAA Radar has prevented hundreds of my dollars from going to RIAA affiliates. It quickly identifies bands that have any sort of affiliation with the RIAA.... like Iron Maiden.

Bands can come clean. I'll buy an album from an artist as long as that album is RIAA free, even if other albums from the same artist are not. I suggest if Iron Maiden wants my money, their next album should be 100% RIAA free.

Perhaps you should bitch to Amazon as well, because they also list Sony as the label. That's an even better reason to never listen to an Iron Maiden CD: Sony is the company best known here for illegally installing rootkits on user's PCs via audio CDs. I wouldn't play a damned Iron Maiden CD if you gave it to me. Who knows what other virus/trojan/rootkit Sony might have quietly slipped into the production line.

Label formerly known as Sanctuary? Wow, look at that: Sanctuary is on the RIAA member list. How odd...

Sorry sport, but the money comes from the buyer, not the website. By your logic, I should never use Google because they advertise the RIAA's music to those who search for it. I can't stop people that actively seek out and knowingly support the RIAA with *MY* purchasing habits. I can use tools like the RIAA Radar to prevent the RIAA from receiving any money from ME.

RIAA Radar has prevented hundreds of my dollars from going to RIAA affiliates. It quickly identifies bands that have any sort of affiliation with the RIAA.... like Iron Maiden.

Bands can come clean. I'll buy an album from an artist as long as that album is RIAA free, even if other albums from the same artist are not. I suggest if Iron Maiden wants my money, their next album should be 100% RIAA free.

Perhaps you should bitch to Amazon as well, because they also list Sony as the label. That's an even better reason to never listen to an Iron Maiden CD: Sony is the company best known here for illegally installing rootkits on user's PCs via audio CDs. I wouldn't play a damned Iron Maiden CD if you gave it to me. Who knows what other virus/trojan/rootkit Sony might have quietly slipped into the production line.

Label formerly known as Sanctuary? Wow, look at that: Sanctuary is on the RIAA member list. How odd...

Sorry sport, but the money comes from the buyer, not the website. By your logic, I should never use Google because they advertise the RIAA's music to those who search for it. I can't stop people that actively seek out and knowingly support the RIAA with *MY* purchasing habits. I can use tools like the RIAA Radar to prevent the RIAA from receiving any money from ME.

RIAA Radar has prevented hundreds of my dollars from going to RIAA affiliates. It quickly identifies bands that have any sort of affiliation with the RIAA.... like Iron Maiden.

Bands can come clean. I'll buy an album from an artist as long as that album is RIAA free, even if other albums from the same artist are not. I suggest if Iron Maiden wants my money, their next album should be 100% RIAA free.

Speaking of college radio... NCSU's radio station, WKNC is pretty awesome. Lots of variety, playlists are listed online. They also broadcast on the internet as well. Once you hear it, you can make sure the tune is RIAA free at the RIAA Radar. Another good source is CD Baby. Pretty much everything there is RIAA free. I used to use iRate quite a bit, but last I checked it was no longer being updated regularly and suffering from severe bitrot. I also use iTunes music store recommendations. A lot of those can be RIAA free, you just have to check them with the RIAA Radar before you buy.

Speaking of college radio... NCSU's radio station, WKNC is pretty awesome. Lots of variety, playlists are listed online. They also broadcast on the internet as well. Once you hear it, you can make sure the tune is RIAA free at the RIAA Radar. Another good source is CD Baby. Pretty much everything there is RIAA free. I used to use iRate quite a bit, but last I checked it was no longer being updated regularly and suffering from severe bitrot. I also use iTunes music store recommendations. A lot of those can be RIAA free, you just have to check them with the RIAA Radar before you buy.

the CD production/distribution is done by a big label.

That's sorta the point of the RIAA radar. Either the RIAA makes a buck, or they don't. I'm sorry if you find that misleading, but RIAA affiliated is RIAA affiliated. You can't be mostly RIAA-free. You are or you ain't. I don't want a single one of my dollars going to the RIAA members. Period.