RIAA Employees: Listen Up! You Don’t Want to Miss This!

Though I am not in that preferred 18-34 demographic any longer, I find that those I interact with are like myself (that is, regardless of age) and still purchase music on CD. It is something a bit more tangible than a download – we that have been around no how easily hard drives crash, and flash memory gets corrupted.

That those who listen to music are in a one-to-one correspondence with those who pirate music is a popular myth, started no doubt by the RIAA, and has reached urban legend status. Certainly the time of the first incarnation of Napster turned many into music pirates, but even then, people in my sphere were using Napster to listen to music not available on FM, deciding whether or not to purchase after their low-resolution auditioning.

Now, a story on Maximum PC tells a story I knew must be true, from my travels, but was never admitted to by the rat bastards of the music industry.

Measuring the impact of illegal downloading on the music industry is a nearly impossible task that only seems to make the lawyers rich, but a new UK based study has concluded that illegal downloader’s not only don’t hurt music sales, they help. According to the survey which looked at the buying habits of about 1,000 16 to 50 year-old computer users, those that regularly downloaded music illegally also spent nearly 43% more per year through official channels than their legitimate counterparts. According to the UK Secretary of State for Business Peter Mandelson, this proves the shortsightedness of the new “Digital Economy Bill” set to become law next April which aims to boot any user off the Internet accused of downloading copyrighted material three times or more.

Peter Bradwell, from the think-tank Demos who commissioned the Ipsos Mori study agrees and claims, “The latest approach from the Government will not help prop up an ailing music industry. Politicians and music companies need to recognize that the nature of music consumption has changed, and consumers are demanding lower prices and easier access.” The UK music industry however remains unconvinced, and insisted that the figures cited in the study show a skewed picture. It turns out in fact, that nearly 61% of all illegal downloader’s surveyed claim they would stop downloading illegitimate tracks if they were threatened with losing internet service for a month.

So will illegal downloader’s spend even more money on digital tracks if they get cut off from Bit Torrent’s? Or does it help to create fans who would have otherwise spent less on music using traditional discovery methods. It’s an interesting debate, where do you fall on the issue?

If anything is truly to blame for the downturn in the sales of the music industry  (other than the inclusion of many entities that should have remained in their garages and showers) it is the tight playlisting of FM radio which makes it very difficult for new music to surface, unless a studio is fully behind it.

Surprisingly, articles pop up all the time about the number of artists that are given less and less a chance to ‘hit’, much like the many television shows that don’t last 13 episodes. If you aren’t immediately white-hot, and don’t stay that way, the record companies don’t want to know your name.

I am reminded of Carlos Santana, who was nearly dropped by (then) Columbia records, as he had not had a huge selling album in a while, and then had the collaborative album released which produced “Smooth”. It was as if he had suddenly learned to play the guitar again, after losing his memory and being on a desert island. Nothing could be further from the truth – he was selling albums all along, just not the fantastic numbers the corporate drones wanted to see. Santana never lost, then reacquired his talent, or guitar skills, he was just given a second chance, and some airplay. Many artists don’t ever get that.

We must ask all the reasons why if we are to have a music industry that thrives the way it did in my youth.

I read about the music industry, and musicians, all the time, as I have always loved music more than just about anything else.  The number of major stars, people and groups that have sold albums and CDs in the millions of copies, then going through a spell of no hits, getting dropped by their corporate sponsors is legion. Greed of the recording companies, and their stockholders is a major problem. The RIAA, and its waste of money chasing boogeymen around every corner, is the other part that makes up the whole.

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the RIAA thinks all music lovers should be branded with this…

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