Why the RIAA Really Hates Downloads

wtansill recommends the saga of Jeff Price, who traveled from successful small record label owner to successful Internet-era music distributor. His piece describes clearly what the major record labels used to be good for and why they are now good for nothing but getting in the way. "Allowing all music creators 'in' is both exciting and frightening. Some argue that we need subjective gatekeepers as filters. No matter which way you feel about it, there are a few indisputable facts -- control has been taken away from the 'four major labels' and the traditional media outlets. We, the 'masses,' now have access to create, distribute, discover, promote, share and listen to any music. Hopefully access to all of this new music will inspire us, make us think and open doors and minds to new experiences we choose, not what a corporation or media outlet decides we should want."

Comments

In fact I am, but that's not why.

[MichaelCrawford]

I have a mental illness called schizoaffective disorder. It's just like being manic depressive and schizophrenic at the same time.

I'm doing well these days, thanks to the heroic efforts of my pshrinks and the pharmaceutical industry, but I'm quite eccentric: someone at Kuro5hin said "You're mad as a cut snake, but at least you're an independent thinker".

My aim is to build brand-name recognition for my stage name - Michael David Crawford - and my album - Geometric Visions.

A problem I've got is that there's a famous British actor also named Michael Crawford. He starred in the London Phantom of the Opera, and he's been popular since the sixties. He's therefore got a lot of Google juice. My aim is to make my site rank ahead of all of his fan and theatre industry sites in a search for our name.

It's not required, but I figure that many of those who get my free CD will return the favor by linking my site from their own websites, weblogs or from message boards.