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Non-RIAA Record Companies?
d4 asks: "I've seen a list of RIAA members, but what I'd really like to know is: what record companies are not RIAA members? Many smaller labels are subsidiaries of larger companies, and it's not always easy to tell where affiliations lie. So if I'm going to boycott the RIAA, from whom can I still buy music?" If there are any of you out there preparing a protest for the RIAA's treatment of Napster, then you may want to read this one.
These days I avoid the record stores completely and find my music online. My label of choice is Fat Wreck Chords. It's a punk rock label that's managed to be extremely succesful without any corporate involvement. They charge $10 sor CDs including shipping and handling, which is a lot more reasonable than the $16-18 one would be charged elsewhere.
Just my little contribution to bringing the RIAA down... if you enjoy punk rock I'd give these guys a whirl... they even have full-length mp3's. :)
Cheers!
Adam "Fogie" Fogler -- Professional Paid College Student
Since virtually all labels have spoken out against Napster as though it is the most evil thing ever, I think all labels should be boycotted. Even the Non-RIAA members artificially increase the price of CD's. All of them hold on to an almost brutal level of control over their music, and most of them stop producing music to make other bands more succesful.
.coms.
Okay, you're one of the naive ones. But I'm not going to let this go unchecked. Not all non-RIAA members artificially increase the price of CDs - Dischord is a good example. Matador's prices to wholesale/distribution and direct are really reasonable as well. Most indie labels are okay with selling a few bucks cheaper because they want to keep customers happy. They know that the more you offer a customer, the more likely they are to come back. I know with Matador, I'm highly inclined to respect and listen to any artist on their label. I may not like all of them (Mecca Normal? gack!), but I'll give em all a try because Helium, Chavez, Pavement, etc, are all so good.
As for the brutal level of control - hey, they're a business. They have a finite amount of resources, and they have to decide what CDs to promote and how to do it. I think most of the labels that are non-RIAA are going to be sufficiently small that this really doesn't come into play. Matador pushes everything they release (except for singles, maybe) - they're not releasing 100+ records a year, so it's not a matter of only being able to promote 5 bands and hope they sell really well, and ignoring all the rest.
I have heard of virtually no label that says "Yes, take our music we appreciate the advertising" apart from a few isolated bands. Those who did seemed to assume that copyright didnt' apply at all, and stole Napsters logo just to make a profit. All labels are evil so boycott the lot
The reason you've heard virtually no labels say that is because it's really hard running an independent record label. It's even harder to make money doing it. So you're saying they should risk their chances at that so people can have things for free? These bands pay for musicians to spend weeks in the recording studios and such. They have office buildings. They mail records out. Things cost money. They're not in favor of shifting their business model to giving away stuff for free. Look how well it's working for most
The bands that have jumped on the Napster bandwagon for the most part seem really self-promoting. ie "We like Napster! We are a band of the people! Love us! Buy our CDs, on sale now!"
I personally run a very very very small record label. And yes, I use Napster. So it's hard for me sometmes to justify both sides. But not all record labels are evil by any measure. I personally work with my artists to ensure that what costs I can afford to cover get covered, I set up shows so people can see my bands, I mail promos all the time and try to convince people at college radio to play our stuff. It's hard work. But I do it for my love of music, particularly that of the people I work with. I'm hardly evil. Well, in that respect, anyway.
Now if someone comes along and wants to give away something that I'm charging money for on the grounds that we have too much money already, then I need to take some of my riches and buy a baseball bat to go upside their head with. Come on, guys! Not all people in music make as much money as Britney Spears. Hell, not all people in music get heard on your pop radio station. Take a wider view.
As for MP3s, yeah, we got em. I deal with my artists and try to get some fun, different, exclusive, whatever, stuff up on the web for download. And I offer up RealAudio files of our releases so people can try before they buy.
Sonic Therapy
So don't call us evil. Much.
Someone else has already paid the devil for you. The money goes directly to the store you buy it from, nowhere else. Remember, your gripe is against the RIAA, not the retailers (unless you really are into Napster for the thievery) ;)
Eric
So, not buying from them isn't going to hurt them, instead we should buy from them?
Not going to happen. Being able to pick and choose my music and directly support my favorite bands has changed the way I shop for music. I'll gladly pay for music, but only when it goes to the people who made it.
The RIAA isn't ever getting a cent of my money. Not because I'm actively boycotting them, but because I'm not going to buy music that they'll be selling, or in a way that they'll be selling.
Sure, they can lie and say that the drop in their sales is due to a bunch of things beyond their control, like evil hax0r d00d5 warezing songs, but they'll be wrong. They're going out of business slowly but surely because they're obsolete and they fear change. Nobody mourns the lack of buggy-whip companies in a world with cars. Nobody will mourn the lack of a physical media distributor in a world without physical media.
They can bitch and they can whine, but they're irrelevant. They can sue visible entities like Napster, but they can never touch me or the millions like me. Their SDMI initiative won't fly, it's simply another piece of incompatible hardware with stupid proprietary limits. Yawn. I'll keep doing business as I am now, buying MP3s directly or buying CDs from artists I support and MP3ing them. The only way I'll stop this will be to upgrade to a better free and open format when one comes along.
Don't boycott the RIAA, ignore them. They're obsolete and pointless.
But whatever you do, do *not* support them in any way. Don't "buycott"! What a fucking stupid idea... it's like sending Microsoft an extra few bucks when buying Windows, to support them in legal battles. You wouldn't have thought of trying to end Aparthied by *supporting* the old South African government!? It's a ridiculous idea. If you want the RIAA to go away, act like they already have.
Bands like Propagandhi, who used to be on the Fat label, have moved off to start their own indie labels. Check out the G-7 Welcoming Committee.
Wah!
well, napster has posted a Buy-Cott list on their web site of groups who support napster, and they recommend you buy the cds of the bands on the list even though these bands are on RIAA labels. some of them include Sunny Day Real Estate, Radiohead, and the Get-upKids. being as i'm a huge SDRE fan, i was happy to see them on the Buy list. as Napster is blocked from my corporate firewall, i am not sure of the exact link, but i think it's here. Buy these CDs! especially radiohead's OK Computer /the Bends and Sunny Day Real Estate's The Rising Tide. These are three of best cds ever made. and the bands support Napster.
probably the reason you haven't yet seen a list is because nobody could possibly single-handedly compile one; there are so many independent labels out there in garages and basements that to actually compile a comprehensive list would be insanity.
i think a good idea would be to set up some sort of site that the record labels themselves could use to proclaim their lack of affiliation with the riaa... however, that could lead to a lot of serious effort too. i dunno.
grizzo: totally insecure, but very convenient.
Also, indie-music.com has a big alphabetical list with links.
If you really care, file that list and RIAA's list and cross-reference them.
What a great copyright notice, from an artist who actually WANTS people to distribute their music. Somehow it just makes sense.
www.cdbaby.com has a bunch of cool CD's (with audio sampls) that appear to be put out directly by the artists. I haven't bought anything from them yet, but check out their policies, and you'll see that there are definitely artists without labels on their site.
If you're trying to boycott the RIAA you should definitely check them out.
--Robert
just because a label is indie doesn't mean that they are sweet and grandmotherly and innocent. TVT is an excellent example:
TVT got their start selling semi-legal tapes of old sitcom theme songs (TeleVision Tunes--get it?). when they got shut down for that, they put up a big fuss over how it was fair use etc. etc. fairly similar to the whole napster "well it's on the radio" argument, both in scope and ludicrous nature.
so TVT moved on to indie music, which at the time (~1979) was punk/industrial. they snapped up a little record shop in chicago called wax trax! and went at it. ministry was signed for a time, as was wire, i think. they were horrible to all their bands, mostly because they lied about having money (which they didn't) and about tour support (which they never gave).
the late eighties came, and with it trent reznor and NIN. he signed to TVT under the name nothing records. the idea was that NIN would release under nothing, as would other industrial bands. long story short (too late!) trent fought and fought TVT for control of his own music on his own label and nearly lost. hence the long delay between the release of broken and the downward spiral. he was moving himself over to a major, because they treated him better than his indie label.
so boycott TVT too! although they talk the talk, they act just as irresponsibly as any major label.
just a side note: what constitutes a "major label?" units shipped? number of signed acts? membership in the RIAA/"big 5?" this has never been made clear.
london is drowning and i live by river
People seem to have picked boycotting as a reaction simply because it's the first thing that jumps at them-- Someone's selling something and we don't like their policies! Stop buying their stuff! Unfortunately, the RIAA is too far-reaching and the group they've actively offended is too small and specific for this to be the most effective form of protest. Since the RIAA is already of the opinion that these people don't pay for their music, a sharp decrease in sales is something that would jsut fuel their fire... if there even was a sharp decrease in sales. As is, a boycott would simply make a slight dip in their sales in the area that they're currently expecting one: giving them fuel for future reports where they can state that "as Napster became more high-profile, sales of RIAA music went down." Just what we need.
As has already been mentioned, Napster is promoting the idea of a "buycott," which is an excellent way of supporting their supporters (instead of punishing their adversaries) and demonstrating the buying power that Napster users have. A powerful statement, if it works. Even better, write to the heads of the record labels and TELL THEM that you're a music fan and you support Napster, that you buy music and would like them to support Napster, too. There are some more suggestions on Napster's site, and here are some addresses to write to:
BMG
1540 Broadway
New York, NY 10036
Fax: 212-930-4398
Strauss Zelnick
EMI Music Group
1290 6th Ave.
New York, NY 10104
Ken Berry
NMPA
711 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10017
Fax: 212-242-4173
Edward Murphy
RIAA
1330 Connecticut Avenue N.W., Suite 300
Washington, D.C. 20036
Fax: 202-775-7253
Hilary Rosen
Sony Music Entertainment
550 Madison Ave
New York, NY 10022
Fax: 212-833-4583
Tommy Mottola
Michele Anthony
Time Warner
75 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10019
Fax: 212-275-3839
Gerald Levin
Universal Music Group
70 Universal City Plaza
Universal City, CA 91608
Doug Morris
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