If there is going to be a Spam conference there has got to be a representative from Hormel, the makers of Spam. They even have a Spam Museum, Spam Recipes and much more on their Website. You can even order online, if you don't want anyone to know you are a closet Spam Freak, or read Spam Trivia.
Regardless of what you think of Spam, someones eating those 6 BILLION cans they have produced since 1937.
It's actually the Music CD-R Blanks, not the data. But the do get a 2% cut of the CD-R burner, paid by the manufacturer under the AHRA (Audio Home Recording Act)
It's good to see that people are actually talking about this again. As the founder of boycott-riaa.com on July 13, 2002, I've been at this for quite sometime. When the original threat of Napster being shutdown loomed, people got incensed and it made difference. That lasted right up until other file sharing programs became available.
We still get a large number of visitors who drop by the site on a daily basis, to check to see what the news is. Some of the most recent articles include: "RIAA's Statistics Don't Add Up to Piracy"
(article)
and The RIAA's response to "How many CD Burners were there actually in the Queens Bust?"(article)
seems there were a heck of a lot less than the equivalent the stated. Straight from the horse's mouth
My personal boycotting lead me to start buying independent music and I've actually been buying more music than I ever did from RIAA artists and labels.
Partially because its often cheaper, around $8.00 -$10.00, and partially because the music is often much better, than what the majors are putting out.
In 2001 RIAA sales were down 5% and they RIAA laid off 16 people in Jan 2002. This year the sales are down 7% to 9% (depending on whose numbers you read) hopefully we can look forward to more layoffs. Less staff less impact. The RIAA membership dues are a portion of the labels sales, lower sales=smaller budget=less impact.
Those that say there is no affect on the RIAA and MPAA are misguided. In the past 2 1/2 years I've bought over 150 CDs from independent musicians, money that went to them, not to RIAA labels. But the largest affect that has taken place is that people are begining to discover independent music,
are buying it, ignoring the majors offerings, and
as a result the RIAA is becoming the Maginot Line of the music industry. We make them irrelvant by bypassing them. What else is happening is that artists are beginning to wake up
speaking out as well, Joni Mitchell, Janis Ian, Elton John, The RAC headed by Don Henley, just to name a few. The RIAA's positions coupled with a loss of sales, has come to the attention of Congress, The DOJ to name but a few and many former backers in congress are finding that the RIAA isn't always right or even telling them the truth. Unethical business practices are coming to light that have been the industry standard for years, that are forcing changes in the way the industry works, in their actions toward artists and consumers.
This is not an if/then type of thing, there are a lot of varibles involved, that each action has an effect somewhere, maybe very subtle, but the overall result is that while the RIAA is winning the battles, they are losing the war. And their desperation is showing.
Actually no it isn't...Because since July 13, 2000 when I first registered boycott-riaa.com and threw together the website, I have purchased not one REPEAT not one, major label release. Nor have I downloaded any either. I don't feel the need. But I have bought close to 150 independent cds. The RIAA drove me to it, and you know what? Its usually much better music, production without overproduction, and usually much better priced as well. My shopping habits have changed as a result.
As for me and my cookie cutter friends usually most people are quite surprised to find that I'm not a 20 something geek that's pissed that I can't download for free, but instead a 50+ year old who works the system writing letters, meeting with congresscritters, attending events like Future of Music Coalition Policy Summitt or SXSW Educating consumers and artists alike.
Tha whole point is to make the RIAA, Hilary Rosen, The IFPI, and Jay Berman irrelevant. They are are a Maginot line to independent music. We just go around them. If an indie is given a chance to distriubte their work, get airplay without paying millions in "bagman" payola they will have a chance to make a decent living from their music. It doesn't take millions of sales to make a damned decent living if you aren't having 90% of every dollar in sales (of those actually reported) skimmed by corrupt record labels, And you pay the expenses out of your 10%.
You notice that it says free...It doesn't break down if they were download illegally from a filesharing service or if it was from legitiatmate sources, such as DMusic.com or Mp3.Com or for that matter the artist's websites?
Free does not neccesarily mean "stolen". Sounds like you've bought into the RIAA position lock stock and yardarm.
1) Boiling at least 2 qts. water.
2) Open iBook
3) Pour boling water in any available opening until it runs out another opening, preferably on the other side.
4) Call insurance agent to recount story of horrific bathroom incendent.
5) Go shopping for new iBook and Boric Acid
What needs to happen is to forget the RIAA labels and their 60 year old business model.
1) If you write music NEVER sell your publishing (the typial deal is 50%)
2) If your goal is to be a "Rock Star" then forget it. You're playing music for the wrong reasons.(try acting, at least you get paid)
3) Remember that music is a business too, treat it as such.(or at least get an attorney and an accountant)
4) Concentrate on each sale rather than selling a million or two and gold records. There are many people with gold records pushing brooms in Las Vegas.
5) If you're good, you will come to the attention of labels, get a lawyer who is NOT an entertainemt attorney (Not beholding to anyone) to look at the contracts. Boilerplate contracts amount to virtually indentured servitude. If they think you are worth persuing don't let them have publishing (a common practice these days)change your look or the music you want to play. (artistic control)Take a look at this contract critique.
6) Get your music out there. There are plenty of free websites like DMusic.Com that offer artists a free page to let people discover your music, link to your website, sell your cd, etc. I recently ran across an artist who has their music on over 100 free websites and has TURNED DOWN a major label contract.(and is happy she did, all the money she earns is hers)
7) When not everyone else is taking their cut before you get yours, you don't need to sell millions of CDs to make a damned decent living.
Except when it comes to copyright issues and eroding those rights. Take a look at the movie and music industries record on Opensecrets.org. Dem all the way. Their s*** smells no better than the Republicans.
That's one senile old mans opinion...Mahathir. Malaysia still provides their techers with living quarters, and education is highly regarded among the people in Malaysia. Teachers there are more repected than here is the US.
but the monthly subscription fees as well, of 9.95. This according to the PR Guy from Listen.Com (Matt Graves) on the Pho List..
First, you must be subscribed to the Rhapsody "All Access" plan ($9.95/month) to purchase and burn tracks; people that aren't subscribed will not be able to purchase & burn tracks.
There is unlimited burning allowed at 99 cents per...but the catalog is quite limited, only 75,000 tracks..
At least I could get some practical use out of them. A quick reformat and I was set. Ever since they started sending out shiny plastic discs, I have to actually buy a pack of floppys from time to time. (not that use that many). Maybe if they would send the CDs out on CD-RW.........
Webcasters must pay ASCAP and BMI just as meatspace radio does. In addition to paying the publishers/songwriters through ASCAP and BMI, the webcasters have to pay "Performance Royalties" to the label/artist for the license to stream the music. Terrestial radio doen't have to pay performance royalties (unless they also stream their broadcast). Let's not forget the fact the the labels actually pay the terrestial stations to play their music. (through independent promoters, they would never actually do anything illegal)
Where the RIAA and its member labels screwed up was in trying (and succeeding)to get performance royalites on streaming. Had they left that alone, and treated webcasting as "Internet Radio" and gone for royalies on downloading they wouldn't have half the problems they have now. (other than the accounting practices, the contracts and running up expenses artificially to assure the artist never recoups).
How come everyone except the artist gets paid up front? Forget the advances, they go toward the recording, paying the producer, the engineer, etc.
The cost of which will no doubt, be charged as "operating expenses" to the webcasting royalties they are collecting, before the artists get a dime. The only thing the RIAA and their members are adept at is spending the artists money to guarantee that they never recoup.
Slashdot Mirror
If there is going to be a Spam conference there has got to be a representative from Hormel, the makers of Spam. They even have a Spam Museum, Spam Recipes and much more on their Website. You can even order online, if you don't want anyone to know you are a closet Spam Freak, or read Spam Trivia.
Regardless of what you think of Spam, someones eating those 6 BILLION cans they have produced since 1937.
It used to be called Fairtunes, It's now called MusicLink.Com
THE RIAA and MPAA?
On tap for 2003 the RIAA and MPAA convince the Surgeon General that all MP3 files and mpg files must have the following warning:
The Surgeon General has determined that listening to MP3 Files or watching MPG files is hazardous to your health.
Actually that should have been July 13, 2000 not July 13, 2002....
Amen, make the RIAA irrelvant. That's the key.
It's actually the Music CD-R Blanks, not the data. But the do get a 2% cut of the CD-R burner, paid by the manufacturer under the AHRA (Audio Home Recording Act)
It's good to see that people are actually talking about this again. As the founder of boycott-riaa.com on July 13, 2002, I've been at this for quite sometime. When the original threat of Napster being shutdown loomed, people got incensed and it made difference. That lasted right up until other file sharing programs became available.
We still get a large number of visitors who drop by the site on a daily basis, to check to see what the news is. Some of the most recent articles include: "RIAA's Statistics Don't Add Up to Piracy" (article) and The RIAA's response to "How many CD Burners were there actually in the Queens Bust?"(article) seems there were a heck of a lot less than the equivalent the stated. Straight from the horse's mouth
My personal boycotting lead me to start buying independent music and I've actually been buying more music than I ever did from RIAA artists and labels. Partially because its often cheaper, around $8.00 -$10.00, and partially because the music is often much better, than what the majors are putting out.
In 2001 RIAA sales were down 5% and they RIAA laid off 16 people in Jan 2002. This year the sales are down 7% to 9% (depending on whose numbers you read) hopefully we can look forward to more layoffs. Less staff less impact. The RIAA membership dues are a portion of the labels sales, lower sales=smaller budget=less impact.
Those that say there is no affect on the RIAA and MPAA are misguided. In the past 2 1/2 years I've bought over 150 CDs from independent musicians, money that went to them, not to RIAA labels. But the largest affect that has taken place is that people are begining to discover independent music, are buying it, ignoring the majors offerings, and as a result the RIAA is becoming the Maginot Line of the music industry. We make them irrelvant by bypassing them. What else is happening is that artists are beginning to wake up speaking out as well, Joni Mitchell, Janis Ian, Elton John, The RAC headed by Don Henley, just to name a few. The RIAA's positions coupled with a loss of sales, has come to the attention of Congress, The DOJ to name but a few and many former backers in congress are finding that the RIAA isn't always right or even telling them the truth. Unethical business practices are coming to light that have been the industry standard for years, that are forcing changes in the way the industry works, in their actions toward artists and consumers.
This is not an if/then type of thing, there are a lot of varibles involved, that each action has an effect somewhere, maybe very subtle, but the overall result is that while the RIAA is winning the battles, they are losing the war. And their desperation is showing.
Actually no it isn't...Because since July 13, 2000 when I first registered boycott-riaa.com and threw together the website, I have purchased not one REPEAT not one, major label release. Nor have I downloaded any either. I don't feel the need. But I have bought close to 150 independent cds. The RIAA drove me to it, and you know what? Its usually much better music, production without overproduction, and usually much better priced as well. My shopping habits have changed as a result.
As for me and my cookie cutter friends usually most people are quite surprised to find that I'm not a 20 something geek that's pissed that I can't download for free, but instead a 50+ year old who works the system writing letters, meeting with congresscritters, attending events like Future of Music Coalition Policy Summitt or SXSW Educating consumers and artists alike.
Tha whole point is to make the RIAA, Hilary Rosen, The IFPI, and Jay Berman irrelevant. They are are a Maginot line to independent music. We just go around them. If an indie is given a chance to distriubte their work, get airplay without paying millions in "bagman" payola they will have a chance to make a decent living from their music. It doesn't take millions of sales to make a damned decent living if you aren't having 90% of every dollar in sales (of those actually reported) skimmed by corrupt record labels, And you pay the expenses out of your 10%.
You notice that it says free...It doesn't break down if they were download illegally from a filesharing service or if it was from legitiatmate sources, such as DMusic.com or Mp3.Com or for that matter the artist's websites?
Free does not neccesarily mean "stolen". Sounds like you've bought into the RIAA position lock stock and yardarm.
I didn't know there were any left....
1) Boiling at least 2 qts. water.
2) Open iBook
3) Pour boling water in any available opening until it runs out another opening, preferably on the other side.
4) Call insurance agent to recount story of horrific bathroom incendent.
5) Go shopping for new iBook and Boric Acid
They don't know...
Dmusic.Com US Based
What needs to happen is to forget the RIAA labels and their 60 year old business model.
1) If you write music NEVER sell your publishing (the typial deal is 50%)
2) If your goal is to be a "Rock Star" then forget it. You're playing music for the wrong reasons.(try acting, at least you get paid)
3) Remember that music is a business too, treat it as such.(or at least get an attorney and an accountant)
4) Concentrate on each sale rather than selling a million or two and gold records. There are many people with gold records pushing brooms in Las Vegas.
5) If you're good, you will come to the attention of labels, get a lawyer who is NOT an entertainemt attorney (Not beholding to anyone) to look at the contracts. Boilerplate contracts amount to virtually indentured servitude. If they think you are worth persuing don't let them have publishing (a common practice these days)change your look or the music you want to play. (artistic control)Take a look at this contract critique.
6) Get your music out there. There are plenty of free websites like DMusic.Com that offer artists a free page to let people discover your music, link to your website, sell your cd, etc. I recently ran across an artist who has their music on over 100 free websites and has TURNED DOWN a major label contract.(and is happy she did, all the money she earns is hers)
7) When not everyone else is taking their cut before you get yours, you don't need to sell millions of CDs to make a damned decent living.
Send it to MusicLink this the former Fairtunes.Com where you can pay the artists directly!
Except when it comes to copyright issues and eroding those rights. Take a look at the movie and music industries record on Opensecrets.org. Dem all the way. Their s*** smells no better than the Republicans.
For a minute I was beginning to think /. got Slashdotted...
that we can expect Club Caribe back anytime soon?
That's one senile old mans opinion...Mahathir. Malaysia still provides their techers with living quarters, and education is highly regarded among the people in Malaysia. Teachers there are more repected than here is the US.
but the monthly subscription fees as well, of 9.95. This according to the PR Guy from Listen.Com (Matt Graves) on the Pho List..
First, you must be subscribed to the Rhapsody "All Access" plan ($9.95/month) to purchase and burn tracks; people that aren't subscribed will not be able to purchase & burn tracks.
There is unlimited burning allowed at 99 cents per...but the catalog is quite limited, only 75,000 tracks..
At least I could get some practical use out of them. A quick reformat and I was set. Ever since they started sending out shiny plastic discs, I have to actually buy a pack of floppys from time to time. (not that use that many). Maybe if they would send the CDs out on CD-RW.........
If only I had this information a few weeks back, I would have bought her a couple of more drinks.....
Webcasters must pay ASCAP and BMI just as meatspace radio does. In addition to paying the publishers/songwriters through ASCAP and BMI, the webcasters have to pay "Performance Royalties" to the label/artist for the license to stream the music. Terrestial radio doen't have to pay performance royalties (unless they also stream their broadcast). Let's not forget the fact the the labels actually pay the terrestial stations to play their music. (through independent promoters, they would never actually do anything illegal)
Where the RIAA and its member labels screwed up was in trying (and succeeding)to get performance royalites on streaming. Had they left that alone, and treated webcasting as "Internet Radio" and gone for royalies on downloading they wouldn't have half the problems they have now. (other than the accounting practices, the contracts and running up expenses artificially to assure the artist never recoups).
How come everyone except the artist gets paid up front? Forget the advances, they go toward the recording, paying the producer, the engineer, etc.
The cost of which will no doubt, be charged as "operating expenses" to the webcasting royalties they are collecting, before the artists get a dime. The only thing the RIAA and their members are adept at is spending the artists money to guarantee that they never recoup.
Funny part is that Mickey Mouse is also a trademark, which doesn't expire. So Disney is still protected even if the mouse doesn't go public domain.