Artists Blast The RIAA's Tactics
from the good-for-them dept
Most people here know that the RIAA's mantra that they're just "protecting the artists" is a lie. They're protecting their own profits - which they do their best not to distribute to the artists. Musicians get very little of their money from royalties - most of it goes directly into the music industry machine. So, it's good to hear a bunch of musicians stand up and say that they're just as pissed off at the RIAA's sue 'em into submission tactics as the rest of us. Some of the best quotes come from David Draiman of Disturbed (admittedly a band I've never heard of, though the article says they have a platinum debut album on the charts - shows how much I pay attention to popular music these days). First he says: "This is not rocket science. Instead of spending all this money litigating against kids who are the people they're trying to sell things to in the first place, they have to learn how to effectively use the Internet." Later in the article, he adds: "For the artists, my ass. I didn't ask them to protect me, and I don't want their protection." The article also mentions that some artists are embracing file sharing on their own, and offering their own MP3s online knowing that it helps them build a larger following.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Aha! another part of the RIAA strategy (maybe)
If independent bands had access to a popular (unencumbered) distribution model with no costs, they would probably become a threat to the popularity of contracted music market share.
You say that this model exists? Not if many file sharers view the activity as risky - this is another devious reason for the lawsuits and publicity.
Come to think of it, since there are SO MANY independants with talent, it is PROBABLE that the RIAA's market share would decline. No wonder they don't care if customers are pissed. Hopefully the legal system will see this as monopolistic constraint of innovation.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Want to make a difference ?
http://www.boycott-riaa.com/
Ok Mike, chill out ... Paul Revere had to repeat his message and so must I so that people who may not have seen the other stories can find out how they can actively make a difference in this fight against the RIAA. Peace.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Want to make a difference ?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in thread ]
No Subject Given
Last week my girlfriend went to an Iron Maiden concert where the artists actually shouted "if you want to copy this to your mobile phone and put it on the internet, go ahead we don't mind!" GREAT, this is really a technology-aware band.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Aha! another part of the RIAA strategy (maybe
Simply put, you give your album away and encourage your fans to make the copies for you. It's like a peer to peer record deal.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Disturbed
Songs include "Stupify", "Believed", "Remember", "The Sickness", and others. Pull a sample from iTunes or Amazon and you might recoginize them. If you dig it, then download it from iTunes or one of the other services. :)
Amazon's Listing
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Artists and labels economic interests differ
[ link to this | view in thread ]