Time To Recognize That The Recording Industry Is Not The Music Industry

from the remember-that dept

Wed, Jan 20th 2010 2:15am — Mike Masnick

For a while now, we've tried very carefully to not make the mistake that is common in the press (and among politicians) to assume that "the recording industry" (i.e., the record labels) is "the music industry." The two are quite different. In fact, by almost every measure, the music industry has been thriving over the past few years, while the recording industry is in rapid decline. And yet, the two are regularly confused. So it's nice to see a new paper come out arguing that it's time to stop inappropriately using "the music industry" to only discuss or identify a small subsegment of the overall music industry. This is important -- because when you realize that the recording industry is only a piece of the puzzle, it suddenly makes you realize that the RIAA does not, in fact, represent "the music industry" at all, but rather a tiny segment of the industry.

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

Filed Under: music industry, recording industry

14 Comments

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

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2010 @ 2:23am

I heard that Digital Video Recorders are all the rage.

See! The recording industry is booming!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Blatant Coward (profile), 20 Jan 2010 @ 3:39am

Forwarrrrrrrrrrrrd the Lobbiests!
In truth, there is no money.

But hey, you might get lucky and a recording star will copy this posting after "deep soul searching of their feelings, and months of intensive research of the facts on the issue."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Dark Helmet (profile), 20 Jan 2010 @ 6:25am

?
What the hell is going on with the comments lately? There appears to have been some kind of influx into retard land the past few days....
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- byte^me (profile), 20 Jan 2010 @ 6:45am
  
  Re: ?
  And this is new? It seems like the majority of the comments have been that way for a while......
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- diabolic, 20 Jan 2010 @ 7:09am
  
  Re: ?
  Is it just the comments? Perhaps the content draws a certain crowd. When is the last time you saw a new idea here?
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - senshikaze (profile), 20 Jan 2010 @ 8:44am
    
    Re: Re: ?
    i would say that their is no such thing as a new idea, so how could we possibly find one?
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2010 @ 9:44am
      
      Re: Re: Re: ?
      Maybe fresh is a better word than new. Whatever.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2010 @ 9:16am
  
  Re: ?
  Well, someone has to fill in the The Anti Mike Gap.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2010 @ 12:00pm
  
  Re: ?
  Most of us have regular jobs. The new fiscal quarter began and we're working on new budgets and projects.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 20 Jan 2010 @ 3:19pm
  
  Re: ? (Smarmy Comments? Why yes, much expected.)
  Indeed.
  To me, this phenomenon and course of events are typical both when I stop commenting, or in real life, when I finish a project/job. Typically, people who think they are very smart will attempt to fill the void of my presence with regurgitated comments and half analyzed talking points based on their 15-degree perspective. (Perhaps if the 'comment that broke the camels back' could be captured in a picture, it may be perceived as something like this.) At which point, I say, "Okay, sure you're right, so have at it and prove your point." I shut up and in turn, successive ideas earn a type of smarmy pretension and various levels of scorn which are very fulfilling and the feeling can't be bought at any price.
  
  All of which make me feel somewhat pleased inside.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
SeanG (profile), 20 Jan 2010 @ 9:27am

I recently blogged about this myself. The RIAA are like politicians. I want to vomit in my shoes whenever I hear a politician claim they are representing "the American People" like they know what we all want and that we all want the same thing. The RIAA and it's superstar artists do the same thing but they don't know me, they don't know what I need and want. And that's why they are failing. At least politicians get elected.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Adam Wexler (profile), 20 Jan 2010 @ 11:44am

i've been saying this for a number of years and glad to see it is being discussed again.

i think a similar dilemma exists in the digital music space, where common perception of "digital music startups" have led others to believe streaming sites right away. yet, there's plenty of other digital music startups flourishing that do not require hefty licensing, etc fees.

hopefully everybody will wake up to that fact as well!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
manicdrums (profile), 20 Jan 2010 @ 1:35pm

It's all about perspective...
True, from the Recording Industry's own point of view, business is on the decline, but a reliable source last year stated that "up to 25% of the current Music Industry business falls outside the existing infrastructure." And this figure is growing, much to the concern of the establishment. Maybe they should have invested in their futures more wisely?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Koozies, 20 Jan 2010 @ 6:50pm

So great!
So great post ! I get a lot of good info from your post. So smart !
I love music. It is my closest friend sharing sadness or happiness during my life . So relax with music. I love Rock !
[ link to this | view in chronology ]