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In a couple minutes of browsing, I found eMusic, for example, has KOCH Records, which RIAA Radar flags up a warning status for. So, you already need to run checks if you want to keep your boycott up.

My view is that the big four aren't going to disappear any time soon, so if they can be persuaded to do something right, that's a good thing.

now danger mouse is half of the chart topping group gnarls barkley ("crazy" from summer 2006). that would have NEVER HAVE HAPPENED if the riaa had just ignored this guy. he would have had no career if the riaa hadn't pointed a spotlight at him (well, obviously he still had a chance at stardom on his own, the point is, it is now point of historical fact that it was riaa's actions that made this guy famous)

And now, according to riaaradar he has signed with Warner, a big-time member of the RIAA. So it would seem that the RIAA created their own star. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

http://riaaradar.com/

I read somewhere that the **AA are not about money, or even copyright infringement; they are trying to create scarcity where there is none. That artificial scarcity will then create a demand for content that ONLY the *AAs will be able to satiate. This is typically termed manipulating the market in most circles, but they have paid the lawmakers to make it look legal.

The only people who will continue to lose out in big ways are the content creators who sell their copyrights to big business like the **AAs of the world. Right now, we are seeing the beginning of content creators starting to distribute their products without the help of the **AAs of the world, and its working. The more that happens, and the more that we, the people with a clue, name the companies responsible for bad laws, jacked up prices, market manipulation... the more chance there is of John Q Public understanding what is happening and voting appropriately.

So, who is responsible? Sony? No, there are way more than a few. Here is the RIAA's board of directors:

Polly Anthony Geffen Records
Mitch Bainwol RIAA
Glen Barros Concord Records
Steve Bartels Island Records
Victoria Bassetti EMI Recorded Music
Jose Behar Universal Music Group
Tim Bowen SONY BMG
Bob Cavallo Buena Vista Music
Mike Curb Curb Records
Joe Galante SONY BMG
Ivan Gavin EMI Recorded Music
Charles Goldstuck RCA Music Group
Zach Horowitz Universal Music Group
Dave Johnson Warner Music Group
Craig Kallman The Atlantic Group
Lawrence Kenswil Universal Music Group
Michael Koch Koch Entertainment
Mel Lewinter Universal Music Group
Kevin Liles Warner Music Group
Alan Meltzer Wind-up Records
Deirdre McDonald SONY BMG
David Munns EMI Recorded Music
Jason Flom Virgin Records America
Tom Silverman Tommy Boy Records
Andy Slater Capitol Records
Rob Stringer SONY BMG
Tom Whalley Warner Bros. Records

http://www.riaa.com/about/leadership/board.asp [riaa.com] Board of directors

If you want to know if someone's music is safe from **AA, try http://www.riaaradar.com/ [riaaradar.com]

I am certain that there are plenty of other resource on the Internet as well. So, lets all join together and try to make sure that content creators understand what the **AAs are doing to their business... namely killing it and any chance of real revenue.

The copyright holders are losing, not because TPB or ISOHunt will always pop back up, but because they are trusting the business and revenue to a group of people who are whole heartedly working overtime to ruin their business. The **AA are subhumans (more or less) who are trying to create a supply and demand situation where the demand is greater than the supply by choking off all supplies but their own. This is typically termed manipulating the market in most circles, but they have paid the lawmakers to make it look legal.

The only people who will continue to lose out in big ways are the content creators who sell their copyrights to big business like the **AAs of the world. Right now, we are seeing the beginning of content creators starting to distribute their products without the help of the **AAs of the world, and its working. The more that happens, and the more that we, the people with a clue, name the companies responsible for bad laws, jacked up prices, market manipulation... the more chance there is of John Q Public understanding what is happening and voting appropriately.

So, who is responsible? Sony? No, there are way more than a few. Here is the RIAAs board of directors:

Polly Anthony Geffen Records
Mitch Bainwol RIAA
Glen Barros Concord Records
Steve Bartels Island Records
Victoria Bassetti EMI Recorded Music
Jose Behar Universal Music Group
Tim Bowen SONY BMG
Bob Cavallo Buena Vista Music
Mike Curb Curb Records
Joe Galante SONY BMG
Ivan Gavin EMI Recorded Music
Charles Goldstuck RCA Music Group
Zach Horowitz Universal Music Group
Dave Johnson Warner Music Group
Craig Kallman The Atlantic Group
Lawrence Kenswil Universal Music Group
Michael Koch Koch Entertainment
Mel Lewinter Universal Music Group
Kevin Liles Warner Music Group
Alan Meltzer Wind-up Records
Deirdre McDonald SONY BMG
David Munns EMI Recorded Music
Jason Flom Virgin Records America
Tom Silverman Tommy Boy Records
Andy Slater Capitol Records
Rob Stringer SONY BMG
Tom Whalley Warner Bros. Records

http://www.riaa.com/about/leadership/board.asp Board of directors

If you want to know if someone's music is safe from **AA, try http://www.riaaradar.com/

I am certain that there are plenty of other resource on the Internet as well. So, lets all join together and try to make sure that content creators understand what the **AAs are doing to their business... namely killing it and any chance of real revenue.

With your wallets that is, I have not bought a single music CD or movie in many years. I wish more would follow suit...
 
I only buy non-RIAA music. use http://www.riaaradar.com/ to find artists that deserve your money and support indie music (it's better anyways). screw RIAA and screw the artists that support them, the artists start down this path first and frankly I don't give money to people that say "fuck you" to me before selling me products.

It's not perfect, and you might want to check closely if you're looking for something made in Canada, but it is a very good starting point.

There is RIAA Radar. I use this when wanting to purchase a CD. If it's RIAA I download or buy used. If it's not RIAA I buy it new.

the plate?

Our interest in this is tens or hundreds of bucks per year as individuals. The consumer technology industry has hundreds of billions per year at stake, in fact, they have far more at stake financially than Hollywood does.

So why aren't they telling their lobbyists to tell Hollywood's politicians "back the fuck off or else?" Why aren't they buying new politicians and getting ready to go to the mattresses?

They're still hypnotized with the same delusions they had a few years ago. Hollywood told them that if they give them everything they want with respect to content restrictions, that Hollywood would make all its content accessible to it and everybody would go onto a future of infinite profit together.

It's the same smoke and mirrors that goes into their movies... but targeted at CEOs who really ought to know better by now. Who's gotten nailed by this? Steve Jobs and the other Apple stockholders. . . whose iTunes would be a money-loser if it weren't being cross-subsidized by iPod sales instead of a stand-alone profit center adding to Apple's bottom line as it should be given the service it provides.

The latest sucker? Steve Ballmer, who let Hollywood turn his MS iPod killer into the Zune (snicker) via the side effects of content restrictions so heavy that one can't use the Zune with some content previously purchased from Microsoft. . . which is sinking without trace in the retail market. Hmmm... didn't he let Hollywood kill off "Microsoft Media Center" as well? Is he capable of learning from experience? (thinking about Vista) Well, maybe not.

All we can do as consumers is buy used, encourage up-and-coming musicians to sell their own music over the Net as CDs and tracks (and get an honest $5/CD instead of 20 cents after the label gets whatever its accountants say its cut is). . . buy used, and to buy music as tracks and live from non-RIAA musicians.

If you're a major stockholder or C-level at a consumer technology company. . . ask the others at the top of the tree "why the fuck are we letting a bunch of low-rent Hollywood companies tell us what we can sell consumers?"

It seems to me that for-profit corporations are simple creatures. They seek one thing: profit (some are better at it than others). They respond to pleasure (profit), desire (for profit), pain (loss of profit), and fear (of loss of profit). If you want them to change their behavior you must employ these carrots and sticks.

Penalize record companies for their membership in the RIAA. Purchase no music from members of the RIAA. This can be tricky as many record labels that seem to be Independents are actually subsidiaries of RIAA members. Also, you cannot reliably identify whether an album or single is published by an RIAA member just by the artist. Many acts begin their careers on independent labels and then move to majors that are RIAA. There are resources that will help you to identify whether a given album or single is RIAA-member published or not:

www.riaaradar.com
wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_RIAA_member_labels

Don't buy records, CDs, tapes, or downloads published by these labels. You don't have to avoid *listening* to works published by RIAA members. Just refuse to *purchase* them.

Reward the labels that are not members of the RIAA. Purchase music from labels that are not RIAA affiliated. It shouldn't be hard. Unless you live completely in a mainstream media wasteland, some of the musicians that you like are on independent labels.

If you enjoy purchasing music on-line, consider doing so through eMusic.com. Although they are the #2 on-line music retailer after the iTunes music store, almost all their tracks are from non-RIAA members. As a bonus each song sold by eMusic comes in a DRM-free MP3 format!

If you do these things don't count on industry executives being astute enough to figure out from the sales numbers alone why their fortunes are declining. Consider contacting the Big 4 major labels and tell them exactly why you are avoiding their products and the products of their subsidiaries.

• EMI
• Sony BMG Music Entertainment
• Universal Music Group
• Warner Music Group

Then, sit back and enjoy music and the schadenfreude.

This is why I use the RIAA Radar

But if you so heartily disagree with the current model, don't steal[1] (or otherwise consume) their goods, or enable others to do so.

Simple, isn't it?

Here's an easy way to figure out if an album is a release...

from a BPI label:
BPI Radar

from a RIAA label:
RIAA Radar

I haven't used the BPI one yet, but I use RIAAradar all the time. My advice, for what it's worth, is to support the independant labels by buying their stuff. On the other hand, if you want a physical copy of a RIAA/BPI album, consider buying it used.

Don't buy RIAA member CDs, make music mixes for friends and support the indie scene. If someone chides you about filesharing, tell them to get stuffed.

http://www.downhillbattle.org/ http://www.eff.org/ http://www.riaaradar.com/

For those of you that want to support the artists but not the RIAA, visit http://riaaradar.com/ and search for the artist.

It will show you the albums that they have and if they are produced by RIAA memebers.. I often buy CD's from artists that are not part of the RIAA and I tell the artist/labels why I do so.

And that is why media companies are losing it. Copy protection and usage restrictions are nothing more than hassles for actual paying customers. And every time the content providers, whether it is music, movies, or videogames try to introduce another technological solution to their market problem, they only alienate paying customers. The actual people who are unwilling, uninterested, or unable to pay for the content just go out and get versions without the protection.

Yeah, it just boggles the mind. They go out of their way to ensure that pirated content is superior in every way to purchased content. The pirated stuff is easier to get. It's more flexible and can be played everywhere. It doesn't break my machine. It doesn't disable the controls on my player. It costs less. The only advantage purchased content has is that in theory it's the "right thing to do". But really, with the asshats running the media companies and their lawsuits and lobbying for offensive laws and the way they rape the actual artists, I'm not even sure that giving them money is "the right thing to do".

I found a link to RIAA Radar in a slashdot post a week or two ago. It's pretty cool and gives you a way to find those artists and labels who aren't part of the problem. Or at least not as much as RIAA members are.

Ummmm...the report said that 1/3 of illegal file-sharers spent more, and 2/3s spent less on overall music purchases. Of course, they coincidentally do not mention the margin by which illegal file-sharers' music spending is down. It's entirely possible, albeit unlikely, that the majority of that 2/3s buy one less record per year than they used to.

Also, factor this in: who's doing the counting? Are these just RIAA-affiliated labels? If I'm not mistaken, RIAA is the group that hands out gold and platinum records, if you sell 100,000 copies of a cd through independent distribution channels, you'll have to pat yourself on the back and buy some cheap vinyl and gold spraypaint. That being said, has the RIAA taken into account that *gasp* maybe some of their sales have gone to independent competitors? I was a college freshman the year during the days of Napster, Scour, etc. and almost all of what I downloaded eventually was from independent labels, it opened up a world of new music for me. Since then, the majority of what I buy is not affiliated with the RIAA..are they calling up independent labels and counting my cd purchases, or am I lost in the seething masses of evildoers who apparently buy less music than they used to (in this case, patently false).

I say we start a movement against the purchasing of music from any label associated with the RIAA.

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

the thing is that Microsoft puts their name on their products and cares what people think when they think of microsoft (average people, not average slashdot readers) but the RIAA exists to do the labels' dirty work and thus by their nature has less incentive to avoid incurring the wrath of the commoners. (not everyone knows about www.riaaradar.comunfortunately)

cos basically we want to reform it, so we can start actually buying CD's and so on again, right ?

Look... there are thousands of independant labels out there putting out music that's just as good as (and often better than) the major labels. Not only that, but there are plenty of sites where you can learn about this independent music. The All Music Guide covers quite a few non-RIAA bands with tiny distributions. If you're not sure which bands are part of the RIAA, there's the RIAA Radar, which will tell you which bands/albums send money to the RIAA. As far as distribution, Forced Exposure, In Sound, and several other outlets (including the music download services) offer tons of RIAA-free music.

Personally, I'm very taken with these labels:
IDEA Records
Beta-Lactam Ring
MEGO Records
Drag City Records

Here's my issue. The RIAA will die a slow, painful death. This is inevitable. Don't worry about it. Small labels are just as capable of recording, producing, packaging and (to a lesser extent) distributing music as the RIAA. If you, as a consumer, will do a little research, you can find a whole world of underground music -- sure it isn't on the commercial radio stations or MTV, but it will play in the same CD player that all your RIAA CDs play in. Nobody's really being locked out. It is very different in the software industry, but you all know abou that...

You can also try the Riaa Radar
There you can also search per artist or album.

This is enough to make me think about a boycott, RoTK be damned. Does anybody know if there's a site like RIAA Radar, for the MPAA? It could probably be done using the same technique (I think riaaradar scrapes amazon for the label, and compares it against a list of RIAA members).

Thus the very reason why iTunes is a good thing for musicians: Independent labels have exactly as much exposure as the big labels do on iTunes.