After Accusing Them Of Being Criminals For Years, Record Labels Want Kids To Shill For Them On MySpace

from the somehow,-I-think-not dept

Tue, Jul 31st 2007 12:45pm — Mike Masnick

Do the record labels really not realize how much they've pissed off their best customers for the last decade? It would appear so, because they're now hoping that the kids they've alienated for all these years will become shills for them on MySpace and other social networks, pushing all their friends to buy music as well. That might have worked years ago, but these days it seems like plenty of kids have been so turned off by buying music from record labels that treat them like criminals first, that it seems like an uphill road to convince them to not just start buying music, but shilling for the record labels as well. Especially as reports are coming out that legal purchases have stagnated as unauthorized downloads have continued to grow -- it's hard to believe that the record labels are suddenly going to get everyone over to their side this easily.

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Filed Under: music, recording industry, social networks
Companies: myspace, riaa, snocap

16 Comments

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Sanguine Dream, 31 Jul 2007 @ 12:50pm

Stick and carrot...
They've used the stick for so long that kids don't care about the carrot enough to give it a second glance.
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Anonymous Coward, 31 Jul 2007 @ 12:55pm

reality check
Most of them do not pay for music. So, in a way, they are criminals. And, the vast majority of them are not affected by the record labels. Oh, the suffering and hardships, when will they end?
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- kneeL, 31 Jul 2007 @ 2:07pm
  
  Re: reality check
  Uh no. Why don't you see who the real criminals are here. The cooporations ripping off America. Not the kids who take advantage of resources that are available to them. I would hve Downloaded tons of stuff too if the internet existed when I was a kid
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  - Anonymous Coward, 31 Jul 2007 @ 4:08pm
    
    Re: Re: reality check
    That makes perfect sense. Let me use your logic:
    
    Uh no. Why don't *you* see who the real criminals are.
    
    And now back to reality:
    
    Please find another way to justify downloading copyrighted music with something other than taking "advantage of resources that are available to them".
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- PaulT, 1 Aug 2007 @ 12:46am
  
  Re: reality check
  Erm, that's exactly the kind of thinking that got the RIAA into this mess in the first place - the assumption that all kids are downloading music, therefore they're all criminals. Don't pander to their way of thinking. Music downloading is no worse than when I used to copy CDs to tape in the 90s or record from the radio in the 80s, yet I still gave them (a lot of) my money. No more though thanks to their actions - independent only for me now.
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- Anonymous Coward, 1 Aug 2007 @ 4:57am
  
  Re: reality check
  "Most of them do not pay for music"
  
  Where's your proof moron? Come back to reality when you stop talking out of your arsehole.
  
  Idiot.
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hank, 31 Jul 2007 @ 12:56pm

They finally get it - bloggers will become the new
This plays into the theory that they want to kill net radio because they have little control over the playlists, They finally get it - bloggers will become the new FM radio - but they still want to influence the playlists.
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GoblinJuice, 31 Jul 2007 @ 1:35pm

ROTFLMAO!
Literally. =D
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Elepski, 31 Jul 2007 @ 1:43pm

Ohhhh the karma
they acted without thought.. and now they will lose their billions....

don't buy music... don't listen to the radio... support independent artist
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- Anonymous Coward, 31 Jul 2007 @ 7:24pm
  
  Re: Ohhhh the karma
  That independent artist may well be on a label one day wanting to sell his music so he can eat or feed his family.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 1 Aug 2007 @ 5:15am
    
    Re: Re: Ohhhh the karma
    "That independent artist may well be on a label one day wanting to sell his music so he can eat or feed his family."
    
    That independent artist may well just do fine without a label and sell his music through some alternative source and still be able to eat and feed his family.
    
    Got any more?
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  - GoblinJuice, 2 Aug 2007 @ 7:16am
    
    Re: Re: Ohhhh the karma
    By the time an indy artist goes mainstream, I've lost interest. =)
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Car'a'carn, 31 Jul 2007 @ 1:55pm

Entrapment?
And once kids start playing the tunes on social networks, I'm sure the recording industry will look to charge them royalty fees, which if they don't pay, I'm sure will inevitably result in a copyright infringement law suit. And this of course would further alienate kids...thus the cycle repeats.
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Mudlock, 31 Jul 2007 @ 2:22pm

A Sucker Born Every Minute
Nice spin, but, the "kids" the labels harassed for years have/are grown up (which is what happens when you add years and kids together), and been replaced with new kids who don't know the devil they're dealing with.
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Jhecht, 31 Jul 2007 @ 4:22pm

wow
Record labels must be incredibly stupid in order to believe that after prosecuting us, our parents, and any friends we had near at the time, we would want to go down to stores or use iTunes to buy songs.

What level of idiocy must the executives have in order to believe that alienation leads to customers? I can't believe how dumb some people truly are..
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Jonny, 1 Aug 2007 @ 9:47pm

...
People say it's stealing...ok. I'll be honest here, I really couldn't care less.

Are you telling me artists aren't making any money?

There will always be people who will pay to download music, who will buy CDs/DVDs...blah blah...I'm just not one of them.

If something is easily accessible and free...who are you to judge people for taking it? Fool you I say!
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