RIAA And The Radio

Traditional radio has been taking a hit over the last few years with the advent of streaming over the Internet and the growing popularity of satellite radio. The sound quality isn’t always the greatest, but it’s free and most people I know continue to listen to the radio while in their cars or at work. Radio broadcasters are starting to push HD radio, which promises to improve the sound quality while at the same time bringing radio into the new century. But along comes the RIAA wanting to copy protect the airwaves.

In much the same way that the tv/movie industry wants broadcast flags, the RIAA is proposing something similar for “free” radio. Never mind that even though radio would become digital, it still would not be quite CD quality. Never mind that legally you have the right to copy for your own use as people have been doing for years. The RIAA wants to do away with those rights. The RIAA, in my opinion, will not be happy until it extracts a payment from each person every time a song is played on any device you own, including a radio. It won’t matter that you’ve already payed for the CD or for the intial download of a song. Where will the money go? I doubt the artist will see any of it.