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Record Store Owners Blame RIAA For Destroying Music Industry

Posted by Zonk on from the should-have-thought-ahead dept.

techdirt writes "It's not like it hasn't been said many times before, but it's nice to see the NY Times running an opinion piece about the RIAA from a pair of record store owners which basically points out how at every opportunity, the RIAA has made the wrong move and made things worse: 'The major labels wanted to kill the single. Instead they killed the album. The association wanted to kill Napster. Instead it killed the compact disc. And today it's not just record stores that are in trouble, but the labels themselves, now belatedly embracing the Internet revolution without having quite figured out how to make it pay.' It's not every day that you see a NY Times piece use the word 'boneheadedness' to describe the strategy of an organization."

6 of 586 comments (clear)

  1. Re:a little anecdote... by owlnation · · Score: 4, Informative

    "to all the people that download music, if you think you are only hurting big companies you are wrong. There are two working people with families who no longer have jobs because of music piracy."
    That's actually very unfair, and not necessarily correct. While I think this is a great article and agree with their assertions about the RIAA, there are other factors that have had a massive affect on record shops - e.g. Amazon, and iTunes. Perfectly legal, but many record shops (and book shops, in Amazon's case) haven't adapted to face that challenge.

    eBay is also a massive factor in the collector's market.
  2. Re:The fear did more damage than the theft by poliopteragriseoapte · · Score: 5, Informative

    Not really. Kids, and less time, came later. I stopped buying because I was offended by the presumption that I was returning CDs after copying them. And I stopped buying because, for classical music, there is no very good way of deciding whether you really like an interpretation, except by listening to it from beginnig to end carefully. I did not want to feed a lottery $18 at a time.

  3. Mods: GP Plaguerized. Parent links. by Ahnteis · · Score: 4, Informative

    The parent notes that the grandparent ("I am a record store owner blah blah blah") is just a copy-n-paste job . Which I suppose is oddly appropriate given the subject.

    (BTW, if original author is around, books are EASIER to transfer over the net -- but most people like the physical product because it offers added value over just the content.)

  4. Re:Bullshit. by StewedSquirrel · · Score: 4, Informative

    The RIAA only exists as a cooperative braindump of the largest labels.

    Labels such as Matador who actively refuse to be a part of the RIAA (and have gone to great lengths to show this) actually have strong sales growth.

    Surprised?

    heh

    Stew

    --
    There are 10 kinds of people in the world. Those who understand binary and those who don't.
  5. Re:a little anecdote... by rolfwind · · Score: 4, Informative

    The recording industry will soon die, and eventually the only survivors will be the indie bands singing for the love of music. They'll end up as 21st century minstrels wandering from pub to pub, settling for a meager income and drinks on the house, regardless of their talent.


    I think the Grateful Dead were one of the highest grossing bands on tour of all time yet they never had that many mainstream hits. They also allowed people to copy their music like crazy.

    Even if the death of the CD and record industry comes, there will always be stadiums/concerts/etcetera that have to be filled. Artists of greater talent (or popularity) will fill the bigger venues, as it is now, and make their money this way. You have not really explained why this will die - people will always want to go to events.

    I cringe to bring this example up, but the ratings of American Idol still show music is very much a profitable business (even if that is mixed with drama and whatnot).
  6. Re:Mods: GP Plaguerized. Parent links. by Maitri · · Score: 4, Informative

    There is a great article posted on Baen's site about media pirating. It basically says anything I could possibly say but better. It comments on how badly the situation has been handled, how most artists should love the free exposure, and also states that the consumer and tax dollar should not be responsible for the music industry. If you are interested, it is part of the Prime Palaver by Eric Flint. Go to http://www.baen.com/library/ and the link is on left side of page - the article is #11 in the series (dated 9/16/2002 which shows that this is no new thing).
    Incidentally - it is posted as part of the comments for their free library. That's right free. You don't even have to register. Is there anything better than a FREE BOOK? They have over 60 titles from some big name sci-fi and fantasy authors available to read online 'cause they practice what they preach. A perfect example of how giving people a chance to experiment with new authors (or musicians) will actually increase your sales.