Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Musicians vs. RIAA At USA Today

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the the-battle-lines-grow-deeper dept.

An anonymous reader writes "USA Today has an article about the growing friction between recording artists and the 5 major labels which make up the RIAA. Many issues are covered, including copyright reform, fraudulent accounting on the part of record labels, and how selling a quarter million albums can leave you owing your label $14,000."

2 of 518 comments (clear)

  1. Put your money where your mouth is by anthony_dipierro · · Score: 0, Troll

    I really don't get this holier than thou attitude from people against the RIAA. If you have $200K to invest in an unknown artist to produce and market his/her album, by all means, put your money where your mouth is. If you think AOL is making so much money, go ahead and invest in it. But that's not what's happening. For every superstar that makes the record company a million dollars there's five failures that lose the record company a couple hundred thousand. Yes, in the end the record company usually makes a profit, but on average that profit is generally only a few percent a year of the amount of money that had to be invested to earn that profit. That's the way capitalism works. If you can't afford the capital, you work for someone else. If you've got a better solution, I'd like to hear it.

    1. Re:Put your money where your mouth is by anthony_dipierro · · Score: 1, Troll

      RIAA wants to control how we use the content we purchased

      Yeah, so do I, what's your point?

      RIAA wants to make it impossible to exercise fair use

      I don't think that's true.

      RIAA controls the price of most music

      So?

      RIAA members control which band "makes it" by turning on the payola tap

      Nah, I don't think that's true.

      RIAA members expect to cheat artists out of roylity payments, has done it in the past, and independent reports confirm it's still happening. RIAA members use contracts that are the next best thing to slavery.

      I don't think that's accurate.

      RIAA paid a congressional aide to add language to a bill, bypassing congress and debate.

      So?

      For every superstar that makes the record company a million dollars there's five failures that lose the record company a couple hundred thousand.

      That's if you trust their figures. It's already been said that RIAA makes Enron look like amature hour.

      Enron moved around funds to make it appear that they made more money than they did. Is that what you're accusing AOL of? Please, explain exactly what you're accusing the record companies of doing.

      And then explain why if it's such a great deal, you don't invest in these companies or go into the business yourself.