I am 100% sure that MP3's are affecting the RIAA's bottom line, but 1.4 billion??
As the world has become more of a global community, with people communicating between each other so easily via the internet, peoples taste in music has been affected. I do not have to listen to the 3 local radio stations that all play crap anymore and then from that decide what to buy (Well that's the way it is where I live). I can search the internet for music. I am not even talking pirated MP3's, just streaming audio from a legit radio station somewhere else around the world or MP3's from MP3.com and other such sites. I am not saying that everyone has stopped listening to the radio and "mainstream" stuff, I am just saying now there are alternative sources of music now, which are expanding peoples tastes in music, and in turn their purchasing habits.
Artists themselves are now being influenced in the same way. One style of music is being mixed with another to create a new style of music, and then that style is mixed with another and so on. This happened in the past, but now the evolution of music is much quicker not only because of the amount and speed of information available, but now even making a home studio is not impossible for many, and so more music can be made independently and distrubuted online or independently.
And last, a little attack on the music I hate.
If the RIAA would just come to terms with the reality that the Spice Girls and Backstreet boys and all their little clone groups have no artistic ability and that we don't like groups that were created by some marketing genius, maybe they would notice one of the reasons that they are losing money. I heard the RIAA bitching about sales drops when U2 was out touring last, saying that there are no more "big bands" like them, and that even U2 now has problems selling records. The demise of the RIAA didn't start with the MP3, but I am glad to say it has made a dent:)
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I am 100% sure that MP3's are affecting the RIAA's bottom line, but 1.4 billion??
:)
As the world has become more of a global community, with people communicating between each other so easily via the internet, peoples taste in music has been affected. I do not have to listen to the 3 local radio stations that all play crap anymore and then from that decide what to buy (Well that's the way it is where I live). I can search the internet for music. I am not even talking pirated MP3's, just streaming audio from a legit radio station somewhere else around the world or MP3's from MP3.com and other such sites. I am not saying that everyone has stopped listening to the radio and "mainstream" stuff, I am just saying now there are alternative sources of music now, which are expanding peoples tastes in music, and in turn their purchasing habits.
Artists themselves are now being influenced in the same way. One style of music is being mixed with another to create a new style of music, and then that style is mixed with another and so on. This happened in the past, but now the evolution of music is much quicker not only because of the amount and speed of information available, but now even making a home studio is not impossible for many, and so more music can be made independently and distrubuted online or independently.
And last, a little attack on the music I hate.
If the RIAA would just come to terms with the reality that the Spice Girls and Backstreet boys and all their little clone groups have no artistic ability and that we don't like groups that were created by some marketing genius, maybe they would notice one of the reasons that they are losing money. I heard the RIAA bitching about sales drops when U2 was out touring last, saying that there are no more "big bands" like them, and that even U2 now has problems selling records. The demise of the RIAA didn't start with the MP3, but I am glad to say it has made a dent