RIAA

i don't think they're trying to stop file sharing, they've got to be just plain stupid if they think that's happening. nah, they're well aware of that fact and they are just trying to rake in whatever cash they can to help with their early retirement.

sharing music should be embraced, not made out to sound like it's some horrible dishonorable thing. it's music for crying out loud, if you don't like it then get a real job.

If the RIAA does get any money from this endever, where does it go? To the artist that were "hurt" by this music sharing? It seems to me that the companies think that every song downloaded means money lost. This is not ture. People download because it is free and convienent. Getting a CD is not free or convienent. If people cant download music it does not mean they will go out and buy that CD.

Hrm. Let's see... I've got a decent job which brings in enough money so that I can pay my bills. And on a really good payday I'll still have maybe $20 or so left over to my name so I can go out to eat with some friends at the local diner.

I can purchase 50 blank CDs for about $30, maybe 6 bank cassette tapes for $5. Doing the math shows CDs are cheaper than cassette tapes.

I can go to the store and spend $10 for a cassette or $18 for the CD. Doing the math shows there is price gouging in effect.

The big name recording studios really need to stop and look at the situation; they're losing money because of their own pricing decisions. People are unwilling to (or can't) pay that kind of money for a CD that they'll listen to for a week and the place on the shelf to collect dust.

There will always be those who will pirate songs on the internet, but lower the prices and people won't be forced to steal... they'll see a huge surge in sales and profit.

And everyone knows that the actual artist/band doesn't see but a small fraction of the total sales. Most is gobbled up by the industry. Perhaps people would pay the asking price of the CD if they knew the money wasn't destined to line the pockets of a corporate executive.

Postal Cow, I think you're on track when you compare RIAA to Microsoft... but they've already reached Microsoft status though we've yet to plug our CD players into the phone jack. Both generate overpriced products with little long-term value to the consumer.

Maybe the Microsoft Police and the RIAA Police should join forces and fight real crime instead... like child pornography on the internet, drug smuggling, sexual abuse, illegal campaign financing and domestic violence.

I'd skip lunch with the gang and start saving for a Lawrence Welk CD *and* an XP Pro license, then.

-Tim

I have a hard time feeling bad swapping music because the record companies are still makeing money and bands dont really suffer from it. Most bands recieve pennies on the dollar for CD sales. Some bands even loose money (to their labels) makeing CDs just so they can get their music out there. Alot of the money bands make is from concerts and merch and those sales rise as the band becomes more well known and what better way to become well known than to have your music out there. The bands aposed to music shareing are HUGE bands that can acctualy negotiate protiable record deals, the other 99.999% of musicians (the ones who really need the money) probably benift more from a free exchange of music. I am a musician myself ( www.captainsupreme.com download some of our songs if you'd like) and what I want more than money is just to get out there and be heard. Music/file shareing is just a fact of life now, embrace it for what it is.

!!!

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:angry:

I recently purchased 400 blank cd's for 4 dollars.

Anyway. I think the record companies are just far too greedy. They aren't doing this for the good of the artists. I think it should be the artists decision on what to do when thier files get swapped.

i have a theory.

metallica, back in the day, was rarely played on the radio. then came napster, metallica won the suit, became a little bit country, and now metallica is on the radio EVERY time i turn it on along with a lovely mandatory metallica hour at the very hour i happen to get off work. i used to love em i really did but now i cringe.

who wants to bet, that metallica is going around suing file sharers and then using the money to have their songs played on the radio more often? and laughing too.

AND they use ASP.

Ok, Lets face it, The RIAA is a large collection of retarded over paid lawyers. If they were samrt (or the bands were smart for that matter) they would put a website, charge .50 to $1 for a song and be happy people raking in great money. The industry wouldn't have to crank out cd's or tapes.... spend less for their advertising, and people would DL the songs they like without worrying about paying $20 - $30 for 1 or 2 good songs and the rest of the songs be crap. Hell, that means at an average of 3.5 minutes per song and a max of 2 GOOD songs on a cd, I would have to buy 10 cd's for 1 hour and 10 mins of songs to play at a party.
That's between $200 and $300 .. I am cRAzY, I am not STUPID!!!!....
Anyway, hey RIAA retards, I hope you read this and get a clue. arresting 13 year olds will not help your cause. Smart marketing will.
And to the (kiss my @$$ metalica) bands who really want to be smart, the production companies don't own your music. Put up your own websites and keep the money for yourself.

The 50 cents to 1 dollar song is apple's idea. Cheap songs, and you can do whatever you wnat with them. Everyon'es happy, so you only get eth songs yuou want, its a great idea, and they have most of the business.

lol god i hate mandatory metallica hour on 103.7

what is that?

are stations *required* to play metallica every day for one hour?

radio stations play em for an hour making it "sound" as though it's because of popular request.. but we all know it's because metallica pays them to.

The RIAA is just throwing a huge fit because people are resisting the monopoly they hold(held) over the music industry. They loved jacking up the prices, and the people finally 'fought' back by file swapping. It really angers me the way they are going about it. There are so many better solutions to this problem. Just look at what apple is doing with iTunes. They fail to realize the immense opportunity of profit in the online market, and merely want a quick fix of cash. It will ultimately be their undoing.