RIAA Loss Report Contradicts Nielsen Sales Record

DerekAtLC writes "In a not-so-surprising twist of the tables, RIAA reporting of 'losses' is a little bit off. An interesting blurb at Ars Technica referencing a Kensei News article points out that Nielsen's Soundscan (Which tracks retail point-of-sale numbers for the music industry) shows a 10% increase in sales from Q1 2003 to Q1 2004. The RIAA has recently reported drops in revenue from last year, citing online piracy as the main problem. The crux of the issue? The RIAA hasn't been talking about sales or revenue in terms of sales to consumers or money generated via those sales. The RIAA talks about losses in terms of number of units shipped to retail outlets. The article points out plenty of problems with this (and reasons why we are seeing the trend), but it is fairly obvious that the RIAA is not reporting the most 'useful' numbers to the public."

Comments

What else is new?

[chrispyman]

It's a very common practice in many industries to "tilt" the facts to their favor. Look at the hard drive industry and tell me why my 80GB drive ends up being a 74.5GB drive when I format it.

Boycott the RIAA the Week of July 4th

[rben]

This is another example of the kind of deceptive practices that the RIAA is using to convince congress to pass laws that turn our kids into criminals. The RIAA will continue to pursue this path until they learn that consumers will actually take a stand against it.

I would like to urge people to declare their independence from the RIAA on the week of July 4th, 2004. Boycott them. Do not purchase music or listen to the radio during that time. Instead, why not check out the independent artists that distribute their music for free? Show the RIAA that you know how to hit them back where it hurts... in the wallet.

Re:Lies, marketing...

[sydlexic]

Thats just marketing and lies, and those are the roots of all evil.

capitalism is the root of all evil?

Re:Dont forget

[RedWizzard]

What is the alternative to doing this? ... So if you stole it, it should be considered a lost sale, as you obviously wanted the music but chose to steal it instead of buying it.

Bullshit. I want a Lamborghini Murciélago. If I go out and steal one from a dealer that is not a lost sale because even though I wanted it I was never going to buy it. Same thing with music. A pirated CD is not automatically a lost sale, it is only a lost potential sale. There is a vast chasm between a reasonable and realistic estimate of lost sales due to piracy and assuming that every pirated CD worth of music is $20 of lost revenue for the publishers. That the RIAA persist is pushing their obvious false view of the piracy situation underscores their own dishonesty and deceit.

Re:Dont forget

[GooberToo]

No, there are 3 ways: Buy it, Steal It or Copy It

You're being redundant. The last two are the same thing. Copying it is the same thing as stealing. Insist that the law has different definitions to fit specific classifications, but it's still theft.

This is like saying, I killed that old lady because she was going to die anyways. It's not murder. Ya, bad example but theft is theft.

People only jump on this train so they can attempt to morally justify their theft and not feel guilty about it. Theft is theft. If you're taking music that you should of paid for and didn't, you're a friggen theif! In this case, you're attempting to justify theft by saying only "students" steal music. That's not true. And, I can tell you, there are plenty of students that are driving nice cars with high end audio equipment, money for dates, nice food, and beer, but no money for their stolen music. Ya, that certainly sounds justified.

Re:using that to condemn phony accounting is fine

[FLEB]

You're right. It's not theft. A more proper analogy would be that of hiring someone without paying them.

This is a better thing... how?