Recording Industry Apparently Can't Find A Bunch Of Its Stars To Pay

from the apparently-they-don't-look-very-hard dept

Thu, Sep 21st 2006 10:18pm — Mike Masnick

The EFF's Fred von Lohman is noticing that SoundExchange, the RIAA spinoff group in charge of collecting and distributing royalties from satellite radio and webcasting, is having trouble finding certain artists they owe money to. That might not be that surprising, if the artists were obscure. However, included on the list are a fair number of pretty well-known, major label artists that they absolutely should be able to reach -- especially since SoundExchange has members of all the major labels on its board. It's worth noting, of course, that if SoundExchange "can't find" these artists to give them their money, it gets to keep the money for itself. The recording industry always likes to set itself up as doing what it does for the best interest of the artists -- and politicians and members of the press often present the RIAA as representing musicians. Doing things this blatant doesn't help the record labels convince anyone that their position is in support of musicians, and it seems like it's about time that people stop letting the labels present themselves as taking any position for the sake of the same musicians they apparently don't want to pay.

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

26 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Avatar28, 21 Sep 2006 @ 10:27pm

We really tried hard
I don't really know who this "Sting" guy is but we tried really hard to find them. And "Axl Rose"? Who the hell is he? Oh well, since we can't find them I guess that means we'll just have to keep all that money for ourselves.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 21 Sep 2006 @ 11:58pm

What, me worry?
Aww, look, they'd just blow the money anyway. We'll just tuck it away for them, safe and sound. My condo in Aspen is a much better investment then that '57 Les Paul....
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Vogue, 22 Sep 2006 @ 12:36am

Get out.....you've got to be kidding!
No Way!! Somebody all the major labels associate with is doing something sneaky and underhanded?!?!? Stop the press!! (Who is that? Don't mind her, she's just Vicky Vale!) Or you may know her better as the RIAA.

I just can't believe the RIAA who crucifies everyone they can would even allow such atrocities, let alone take part in the unmentionables that they sanction with every breath they take! Yet Madonna can't even crucify herself without the world having an apocalyptic shimmy shake! Makes me wonder who deserves the bad press more....the RIAA or the American Family Association.

I guess the Joker summed up those two organizations best with the line.....
"Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?" Cuz heaven forbid there be day light on the inner workings of the RIAA or the American Family Association......all hell would freeze over and the world may be set right.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Sohrab, 22 Sep 2006 @ 1:03am

its a shame that a great service like XM has to hand over so much of its money, only for a off shoots of the RIAA to hold it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Rabid Wolverine, 22 Sep 2006 @ 3:01am

Stingy RIAA
Suprise, suprise...

Maybe the recording artists should sue them...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Vasco DaGameboy, 22 Sep 2006 @ 4:02am

Helluvan idea
You know, I just can't seem to find the federal government. I guess I don't have to pay my income tax next April. Oh, and it's really tough to find the cable company, so I'll just keep the money I was going to pay for my high speed access.

This reminds me of that old Steve Martin bit where he says you can use the words "I forgot" to get out of anything.

The only "artist" I would cut them some slack on is K-Fed. It would suit me if nobody could ever find that loser.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
lar3ry, 22 Sep 2006 @ 5:24am

The rules stink
If SoundExchange cannot find a particular artist, then the portion of the royalties that are due to that artist should be paid back to XM or whoever is paying them.

Taking the royalties for the sake of these artists and then not giving them to the artists--for whatever reason--is fraud, plain and simple.

I see a good case for civil action (at least), and probably criminal action as well. Let's see what happens when the RIAA is on the other side of the government agents, huh?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Sanguine Dream, 22 Sep 2006 @ 5:28am

Hold up...
The RIAA is trying to get blanket permission to basically go on fishing expeditions into people's PC but it's little cousin SoundExchange can't find a moderately known artist. Maybe the artists need to download some music from a P2P service...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Annoying Bastard, 22 Sep 2006 @ 5:33am

People need to...
... tell the RIAA what they think.

Call (202)775-0101. ;-)

Let them know you won't spend a single cent on music from labels they represent until they stop their crap.

Call today, tomorrow, the day after, and anytime you are bored and don't know what to do with yourself.

Pass this along to anyone else who is sick of paying over $15 for a CD to fund greedy lawyers harassing people just so they can line their own pockets with cash.

I wonder exactly how much of the money they have collected from their gestapo BS has made its way back to the artists?

I mean, if they have hidden taxes on CD-Rs and burners, shouldn't there be some form of accountability or public disclosure of the FACTS.

Phone: (202)775-0101

For those of you who prefer to write or fax...

Address:
Recording Industry Association (RIAA)

1020 19th Street N.W., Suite 200
or
1330 Connecticut Avenue N.W., Suite 300

Washington, DC 20036, USA
Ph. 202 775-0101, Fax 202 775-7253

As a side project, I plan on paying a personal visit to these locations sometime soon. ;-)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous of Course, 22 Sep 2006 @ 5:49am

Related Good News
In at least one case the failure to pay royalties
was considered a breach of contract and the
masters eventually returned to the artists.

It's a great story with a few interesting twists
and turns.

http://www.louielouie.org/lawsuitinfo.htm
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Spartikus, 22 Sep 2006 @ 6:23am

Who the hell?
Who the hell are these artists? Sublime? Hum? Prozzak? QUIET FRIGGN RIOT? Three 6 Mafia????

Clearly these names are too small to be able to contact. They have a freakin nice website!

http://www.daunbreakables.com/

Wow, just wow...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Geebz, 22 Sep 2006 @ 6:58am

Here's an idea!
I've heard of this fantastic new technology that helps people find things.. They call it "Google".
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Francis, 22 Sep 2006 @ 7:17am

lawyers
I'm sure that the Lawyers will find a way to spend most of the money and return a pittance to the artists. Not unlike those class action lawsuits where everyone who gets to "sue" the company gets a free cup of coffee, and the lawyers get several million dollars each.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
cb, 22 Sep 2006 @ 7:18am

shame
It's a dirty routine shame.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
cb, 22 Sep 2006 @ 7:20am

oops
Its a dirty ROOTEN shame.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 22 Sep 2006 @ 7:41am
  
  Re: oops
  Wanna try again? ROTTEN!
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Spartikus, 22 Sep 2006 @ 7:58am
  
  Re: oops
  Also, just for the grammar record...
  
  "Its" is possessive. "It's" is the contraction for "it is"...
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Egat, 22 Sep 2006 @ 9:54am
  
  Re: oops
  actually, I think the first typo was pretty appropriate.
  
  pretty routine for the RIAA
  
  and everything they do is a damn shame
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 20 Aug 2007 @ 10:57pm
    
    Re: Re: oops
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
chris (profile), 22 Sep 2006 @ 7:33am

no 14
nah dude, it's routine, as in it happens all the time.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
ElectroGeek, 22 Sep 2006 @ 8:58am

And the Record Industry Corruption Continues
Oh there's a shocker! You mean that the a segment of the record industry doesn't want to pay their artists so that they can keep the money for themselves? Why that's just crazy. These guys need to be shaken down hard and regulated to the max. These artists work hard and deserve their cut. http://electrogeek.com/blog
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Sep 2006 @ 9:16am

Come on, give them a break. Don't you guys know that rehab centers usually don't publish their address?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
satan, 22 Sep 2006 @ 9:54am

good
this is good newz
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
anonymous cowards, 22 Sep 2006 @ 9:56am

They called 411 in L.A. and there is no listing for "Bono". There is a listing in Palm Springs, but that's for a "Sonny Bono" and it is disconnected. Oh, well, we'll just have to keep all these royalties.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
MeToo, 22 Sep 2006 @ 12:13pm

Why aren't the royalties set aside in escrow? That would make perfect business sesnse for the RIAA which is a "nonprofit" oragnization. I wish the artists would take a stand against these thieving leeches.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Cleverboy, 24 Sep 2006 @ 2:37am

False Positives
I at least know stories of two people that have had false positives, getting a check meant for some other recording artist with the same name. Money's still good though! The world's a big place. It'd be nice to know why the origanization doesn't have a proper address though... shame on the artist if they're not keep them updated so they can get paid.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]