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RIAA Turns Its Money Extractor Ray On Satellite Radio

(Mis)Uses of Technology

from the pay-and-pay-some-more dept

Thu, Mar 2nd 2006 2:45pm — Carlo Longino
The RIAA has been renegotiating the royalty rates it gets from XM and Sirius for several months now, and like anybody would, they're trying to raise what the companies pay them. But Sirius' CFO says the group wants 30 percent of the satellite radio companies' revenues. The RIAA sees XM and Sirius as interactive, rather than broadcast services, hence the raised demands -- so, of course, this has nothing to do with the RIAA not liking the new services XM and Sirius are introducing that let users record material off the air, even if some of those services are geared towards selling music downloads. Times are looking a little tough for satellite radio, with the costs of running their networks coming home to roost -- having to pay out 30% of their revenues to the RIAA wouldn't exactly help their cause.
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32 Comments

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  • identicon
    Jimmy Bear Pearson, 2 Mar 2006 @ 3:22pm

    OOOFFFF!!!

    OOOOOOOOFFF!! {the sound of the wind being knocked out of one's innards}

    30% of revenues? THIRTY PERCENT? On what planet are these individuals residing

    A business model that bleeds the host to death will fail to endear itself to new hosts, as do many organic viruses and parasites.

    I had to rant. Sorry.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      donald, 2 Mar 2006 @ 5:40pm

      Re: OOOFFFF!!!

      and exactly what percent of the RIAA's cut actually goes to the artists. most likely nothing compared to what it costs the RIAA to keep itself between artists and fans

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      joe, 2 Mar 2006 @ 6:10pm

      Re: OOOFFFF!!!

      i agree with you, however i have one reservation. do you think the RIAA is assuming that music will never die? since they control the whole industry from top to bottom, and people will always listen to music, maybe they assume the business will never die. even if they killed satellite radio, (bad parasite, bad bad parasite) people will still want music, and the RIAA will be there to TAX them for it.

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      JeSus DeVil BuDah, 2 Mar 2006 @ 11:00pm

      Re: OOOFFFF!!!

      Geeeze, What planet do you live on? Its Called Tax! You pay at least 30% of your income to your local and federal government. You pay tax on gas, tax on goods in some states, tax on cigarettes, tax on entertainment, ect, ect. There's always gonna be some FONDANGLED group/entity that controls and taxes Everything! Ive tried to beat them but lost, might as well QUIT BITCHING and join them. Sometimes its easier to give in. America is not free, neither is any other country, not with the worlds banks, huge governements, ect ect. Any way shite money is paper anyway, is it real? The only real thing you can do is Burn it!
      Anyway thats my 4 Cents

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Peter Rambo, 2 Mar 2006 @ 11:56pm

        Re: OOOFFFF!!!

        Last I checked... the government is the only government is the only group that can tax you. And unless you're super rich, the money the government takes away from you comes back to you plus interest (roads, police, fire department, army, un-employment and all sorts of social programs). Well... in theory anyway.

        I don't care what the RIAA does. I can count the number of bands I listen to that are represented by the RIAA on one hand.

        And I haven't listened to the radio since I quit my job at a convinience store.

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Richard, 3 Mar 2006 @ 7:30am

      Re: OOOFFFF!!!

      I say we should call for a 1 week boycot on all music and musical purchases. Just don't buy a cd this week and buy 2 next week but it would show the RIAA that we are still in charge of the music. the customer has the power not corporate. spread the word and someone start a boycot. if noone buys for 1 week the RIAA will loose their $$$$ and understand that the people are pissed and have had enough.

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 3 Mar 2006 @ 9:13am

        Re: OOOFFFF!!!

        That will do nothing. Big companies like the RIAA don't care about sales for 1 week. They care about sales for an entire quarter or an entire year. So waiting a week and then buying the 2 cds will do nothing. What we really need to do is boycott RIAA cds permanently. Don't buy any music. Of course it doesn't really matter anyawy because they make all their money now by suing single mothers and elderly people for exorbitant amounts of money for downloading a few songs.

        I, for one, would like to see the RIAA go a whole week without suing somebody or extorting money out of a legitimtate business.

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Justin, 2 Mar 2006 @ 3:24pm

    No Subject Given

    It will be great when the RIAA eats itself from all this greed over material that THEY THEMSELVES DON'T CREATE.

    It's a fuckin awesome bit of irony really.

    The RIAA doesn't like people downloading music that doesn't belong to them (even if they bought it) yet the musicians who make the music make the least amount of money and have no say in the useage of their content many times.

    Granted there are some artists with enough pull to decide some aspects of their career, but many fall victim to the RIAA and their control of the industry top to bottom.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Mar 2006 @ 3:35pm

    No Subject Given

    [crying]......[/crying]

    i hate them will all my heart. i want to gourge out their eyes and feed them to sharks with FRIKIN LASERS ON THEIR HEADS!!!! the recording companies are evil, they are the anti-christ of capitialism!

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      BlackCow, 2 Mar 2006 @ 3:55pm

      Re: No Subject Given

      "i hate them will all my heart. i want to gourge out their eyes and feed them to sharks with FRIKIN LASERS ON THEIR HEADS!!!!"


      Im sorry, all we have is bass' with lasers on their heads. But they are quite ill temperd :-) But anyway they should realy leave XM and Serius alone, they have gone way to far. And so what if the RIAA sees them as an interactive service, the rest of the world sees them as a brodcasting service!

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Michael TheZorch Haney, 2 Mar 2006 @ 3:46pm

    Fight Back!

    Ok, this has gone far enough. Its time for everyone to band together and focus all our energies to totally eliminate the RIAA with extreme predjudice!

    They are running the Recording Industry into the ground with their activities. The only way we'll get the record studios to finally listen is when they start going bankrupt because nobody will dare do business with them.

    Call your Congressman and demand that a special investigation be done into the RIAA's activities.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      kevin, 3 Mar 2006 @ 8:02am

      Re: Fight Back!

      Seems like this has got to fall somewhere near the RICO laws - sounds like racketeering and extortion to me. No, not Congress, I meant the RIAA!
      Kevin

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    evil grin, 2 Mar 2006 @ 4:25pm

    I've got an idea

    Let's sick Daniel Wallace on them - he is a brilliant technology legal guru!

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Matt Sherwood, 2 Mar 2006 @ 5:30pm

      Re: I've got an idea

      dear e. grin..

      please enlighten as to this daniel wallace....matt

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Jimmy Z, 2 Mar 2006 @ 5:16pm

    No Subject Given

    Wow...funk the RIAA. They suck and so does most of the over produced music they milk dry.

    They're a dying business model, they know it, and are obviously trying get as much money as they can before they meet their demise. This is the exact scenario we are experiencing with the oil companies too.

    Don't bother wasting brain waves on writing your Senator. Educate your friends and family as to why the RIAA is useless instead. Their existence depends on ignorance.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    souljoy, 2 Mar 2006 @ 5:19pm

    No Subject Given

    The RIAA should be tarred, feathered, and buried already. When will the artists who actually make the music figure out the RIAA does nothing for them but make consumers angry?

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Dude, 2 Mar 2006 @ 5:52pm

    RIAA (Ruthless Interfering Arogant A$$holes)

    They appear to be nothing more than a legalized versioin of the Mafia.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    lar3ry, 2 Mar 2006 @ 5:59pm

    They can ask...

    All the RIAA can do is try to redefine XM and Sirius' services. What they want, and what will happen, isn't necessarily the same thing.

    Yes, they are a bunch of greedy assholes, but being greedy assholes has worked for them in the past. They now have a lot of money to spend on Republican congress-people to pass legislation in their favor when the negotiations break down.

    We can't boot the RIAA out. We can try to boycott their products, but there are enough people without a clue that will continue to give them forkloads of cash to proceed with their cause.

    What we can do is boot the politician-whores that take the RIAA's money and pass legislation that totally screws over their constituents. Before all of them are gone, the smarter ones may wake up and realize that this may not be a good idea and they may change their ways.

    And, of course, pigs will learn to fly...

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Dr John, 3 Mar 2006 @ 2:13am

      Re: They can ask...

      "We can try to boycott their products, but there are enough people without a clue that will continue to give them forkloads of cash to proceed with their cause."

      You seem to be one of these "people". Your empty rhetoric about "Republicans" only serves to show that you do not know what you are talking about. Take a look at who were the prime sponsors for the DMCA, a pet project for the RIAA. You have been blinded by your own partiality. In truth, it is both parties that are giving the public a dose of mendacity....

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    mmrtnt (profile), 2 Mar 2006 @ 6:29pm

    No Subject Given


    I want a money-extractor ray!

    MjM

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Matt Sherwood, 2 Mar 2006 @ 6:47pm

    This Whole Issue Fascinates Me..

    What's the best book, or series of articles, on this whole RIAA thing?

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Tyshaun, 2 Mar 2006 @ 7:00pm

    I give up!

    Where do I go to get a job with RIAA. They have successfully to make themselves almost bulletproof. It's almost like trying to fight the borg, resistance is futile. Perhaps they need a lowly computer programmer to leech some of their blood money from them?

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Technopundit, 2 Mar 2006 @ 7:38pm

      Cry "UNCLE"!

      This one is like Gozilla vs Megalon.

      I'm no fan of either of these beasts.

      Can't wait to download the MOVIE!

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Andrew Strasser, 2 Mar 2006 @ 9:01pm

        Re: Cry

        What else can you expect when you make your country a republic by voting in people who are facists.

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 3 Mar 2006 @ 9:41am

          Re: Cry

          What else can you expect when you make your country a republic

          Oh my God! Is the USA turning into a republic? The horror!

          [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Hidden Force, 2 Mar 2006 @ 9:30pm

    Interactive!?

    HOW exactly does the source of the broadcast, whether it be terestrial or satellite, determine the level of interactivity? HOW exactly is passively listening to the XM satellite broadcasts of "The 80s" or "Bloomberg Radio/Business" on your XM reciever or the Sirius satellite broadcasts of "Big '80s" or "Bloomberg Radio" on your Sirius receiver any more interactive than passively listening to 80s hits on your local FM station or talk radio on your local AM station on your standard terestiral radio?
    Interactive!? HOW in the FRAK does the RIAA come UP with this stuff? What kind of evidence do they have to support their outrageous argument?
    Interactive my eye. About as interactive as watching grass grow.
    Morons.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Jack Crow, 2 Mar 2006 @ 11:39pm

    GOD DAMN YOU!

    Ok seriously, what more can the RIAA want from you, firs tthey try to equate music sharing with stealing, and now they want to charge XM radio 30% of their revenue. Satellite radio has it hard enough, leave them alone... Please...

    RIAA You are a piece of 30 year old, rotten, spam... That's right... SPAM! I don't want none of your BS.

    Oh yeah, and MP3's... No matter how great the quality is, it still doesn't compare to a CD. But come on, it's the internet, as long as it can be stolen, it will be. So... LIVE WITH IT!

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    nobody, 3 Mar 2006 @ 1:16am

    Satellite is more than music

    Hey RIAA, I listen to XM for talk shows and news.

    What the heck are you going to do, collect money for human voices you don't represent?

    HA!



    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Name Withheld, 3 Mar 2006 @ 1:56pm

    Let them die

    The faster the music business dies out the better. This article is the last straw. I will not buy music again. I will no longer feel the slightest guilt over downloading music or my children downloading music

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    spam, 3 Mar 2006 @ 8:27pm

    the problem..

    boycotting CD sales? They'll just blame it on internet piracy and buy more Senators off to pass restrictive DRM laws.

    We've been saying "RIAA is dying" for too many years now. The problem is that they're actually getting bigger. :-(

    I think we should all pepper our elected legislators with letters demanding that the RIAA be bitchslapped like the bitches they are with RICO lawsuits and investigations.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    mike, 6 Mar 2006 @ 5:04am

    bs

    Does the RIAA charge FM/AM (CBS-Clearchannel radio these fees)

    Whats the differece from me buying a $.50 cents tape and recording the radio, and pressing a record button on a sat radio device....

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]


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