This is directly for the riaa website. The industry is a multibillion dollar a year industry. No one on top is hurting at all. Industry Ends Millenium With Solid Growth Pattern Recording Industry Releases 1999 Manufacturers' Shipments and ValueReport Washington, February 18, 2000 -- Closing in on $15 billion, the market for recorded music, measured by what manufacturers ship to retail and non-retail channels, continued its upward trend in 1999 enjoying moderate growth. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, manufacturers saw a 3.2% net unit increase in audio and video product shipped to domestic markets (from 1.12 billion units in '98 to 1.16 billion units in '99). The corresponding dollar value of those shipments at suggested list price increased 6.3% from $13.7 billion in '98 to $14.6 billion last year. "The nearly 20% growth in list dollars that the industry experienced over the last two years is a clear indication that despite the ever-increasing competition for the consumer's entertainment dollar, music has an intrinsic value that touches Americans -- they love their music and they want more," said Hilary Rosen, the RIAA's President and CEO.
That little speech on the front page of that web site is complete and utter bullsh*t. Record sales were way up for the year 99-00 even with Napster and other similar clients like it. The record industry make BILLIONS a year and the monetary loss that mp3's MAY cause them to loose is insignificant. Can they name one person that Napster is actually hurting? Do these people realize the most people actually buy the album that they download mp3's of? Can they honestly say that they have never in their life copied something that they didnt own? I don't think so. Not to mention the lower bands that are quite as "popular" as say Metallica. The rich get richer and poorer get poorer.
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This is directly for the riaa website. The industry is a multibillion dollar a year industry. No one on top is hurting at all. Industry Ends Millenium With Solid Growth Pattern Recording Industry Releases 1999 Manufacturers' Shipments and ValueReport Washington, February 18, 2000 -- Closing in on $15 billion, the market for recorded music, measured by what manufacturers ship to retail and non-retail channels, continued its upward trend in 1999 enjoying moderate growth. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, manufacturers saw a 3.2% net unit increase in audio and video product shipped to domestic markets (from 1.12 billion units in '98 to 1.16 billion units in '99). The corresponding dollar value of those shipments at suggested list price increased 6.3% from $13.7 billion in '98 to $14.6 billion last year. "The nearly 20% growth in list dollars that the industry experienced over the last two years is a clear indication that despite the ever-increasing competition for the consumer's entertainment dollar, music has an intrinsic value that touches Americans -- they love their music and they want more," said Hilary Rosen, the RIAA's President and CEO.
That little speech on the front page of that web site is complete and utter bullsh*t. Record sales were way up for the year 99-00 even with Napster and other similar clients like it. The record industry make BILLIONS a year and the monetary loss that mp3's MAY cause them to loose is insignificant. Can they name one person that Napster is actually hurting? Do these people realize the most people actually buy the album that they download mp3's of? Can they honestly say that they have never in their life copied something that they didnt own? I don't think so. Not to mention the lower bands that are quite as "popular" as say Metallica. The rich get richer and poorer get poorer.