Rhino and Decca,for instance, are both RIAA members and there are plenty more that shed light on undiscovered artists that deserve a wider audience. It's unfortunate that everyone thinks RIAA==Britney Spears. The music industry is as varied as the computer industry. Sure you've got your Dell and Apple, but there are plenty of smaller players (and some big ones)that make moves and money. Of course it's easier to just denounce everything RIAA as evil. Nuanced opinions are usually modded down in these discussions.
This logic is really bad. By the same logic, you could say that KKK* isn't that bad because all of it's chapters don't burn crosses in front of black people's homes, or you local Church of Scientology chapter isn't bad because that particular chapter doesn't kidnap people or kill people like some of the other chapters do.
The fact is, organizations like the RIAA, the KKK, and the Church of Scientology have gotten a bad reputation for a reason. Take the RIAA. They frequently sue broad swaths of people using questionable legal techniques, and try to fine people something like $10,000/song for copyright infringement, which is ridiculous even if their victim actually did illegally download some songs. They bleed their artists dry by forcing them to bear all the costs of music production while taking 99% of the profits. They use a huge, well-financed lobbying effort to force bad laws through Congress, which is why we have the DMCA, endless copyright extensions, and corrupt monopolies like SoundExchange.
But, most importantly, if certain labels don't like being associated with the bad name of the RIAA, THOSE LABELS CAN ALWAYS LEAVE THE RIAA. Maybe they could even form their own industry organization. The people at the top of the RIAA are corrupt, as well as most of the other people involved with the RIAA. I'm not going to withhold by criticism of this horrible organization just because a few people at the bottom aren't as evil as the people at the top.
*I realize that comparing the KKK to the RIAA is probably unfair to the KKK. The KKK, although evil, isn't as organized as the RIAA and at least the KKK is mostly honest about what they actually do. I was going to use the people who aided the Nazis as an example, but some people are so reverent of Godwin's Law or so ignorant of history that they will ignore my message even if the comparison is a fair one.
Slashdot Mirror
This logic is really bad. By the same logic, you could say that KKK* isn't that bad because all of it's chapters don't burn crosses in front of black people's homes, or you local Church of Scientology chapter isn't bad because that particular chapter doesn't kidnap people or kill people like some of the other chapters do.
The fact is, organizations like the RIAA, the KKK, and the Church of Scientology have gotten a bad reputation for a reason. Take the RIAA. They frequently sue broad swaths of people using questionable legal techniques, and try to fine people something like $10,000/song for copyright infringement, which is ridiculous even if their victim actually did illegally download some songs. They bleed their artists dry by forcing them to bear all the costs of music production while taking 99% of the profits. They use a huge, well-financed lobbying effort to force bad laws through Congress, which is why we have the DMCA, endless copyright extensions, and corrupt monopolies like SoundExchange.
But, most importantly, if certain labels don't like being associated with the bad name of the RIAA, THOSE LABELS CAN ALWAYS LEAVE THE RIAA. Maybe they could even form their own industry organization. The people at the top of the RIAA are corrupt, as well as most of the other people involved with the RIAA. I'm not going to withhold by criticism of this horrible organization just because a few people at the bottom aren't as evil as the people at the top.
*I realize that comparing the KKK to the RIAA is probably unfair to the KKK. The KKK, although evil, isn't as organized as the RIAA and at least the KKK is mostly honest about what they actually do. I was going to use the people who aided the Nazis as an example, but some people are so reverent of Godwin's Law or so ignorant of history that they will ignore my message even if the comparison is a fair one.