If The RIAA Was Innovative: An Alternate Universe Timeline

from the an-alternate-history dept

Tue, Sep 18th 2012 8:31am — Mike Martinet

1999: Realizing the inevitable, the RIAA convinces member labels to set up all-you-can eat buffets. All music available as DRM-free downloads, $5/mo. 100M of storage, additionally available for increased monthly fee. The RIAA uses superior marketing muscle to "drown out" competing "free" alternatives, insists people should only download from "legitimate" sources to ensure data integrity and security. It recommends the gradual reduction in the production, marketing, storage and sales of CDs, vinyl and tape, keeping only a small reserve capacity*.

2000: RIAA negotiates a small increase in financial support from labels' substantial savings from physical media reductions to create the Online Strategy Group (OSG), hiring engineers, programmers, technologists, musicologists and a futurist or two. The OSG's first suggestion is FoM, Future of Music, which the RIAA incorporates, initially to handle the growing subscription business.

2001: On OSG's advice, the RIAA convinces member labels to cross-offer artists by genre in sites with fun names like, "soultology.com", "hitsnmisses.com", "netrockstar.com", "eargasm.com", etc. A marginally increased monthly fee ($1 more for each sub-site) gets download access and membership in forums, discounts on t-shirts, tickets, posters, etc. FoM takes over all revenue-generating ventures and negotiates equitable profit-sharing deals with the labels and reaches out to independent artists. FoM buys Creative and, with help from the OSG brain-trust, designs and sells a fantastically popular line of MP3 players.

2002: Capitalizing on the psychology of "sharers", OSG introduces memberships that encourage people to find and upload obscure and out-of-print audio. Uploaders compete for discounted memberships, back-stage passes, artist access and the most important prizes: minor fame, street-cred and a custom avatar. The RIAA creates work-arounds for copyright issues removing limits on fan's abilities to upload, modify and share work.

2003 - 2005: Recognizing the growth of social media, the OSG introduces groups and messaging. Higher-access users get expanded pages on OSG sites and are encouraged to rate and critique music. OSG makes available interaction with music journalists, holds contests for album & t-shirt art, gives prizes for mashups with highest votes by the communities. The OSG makes "Locker" space available, 1G free, $1/mo for each additional gigabyte. OSG introduces "Rip Me" - user puts a factory CD in the computer drive tray, and is given the option to rip/upload tracks or have recording company copies put in his/her locker. (Subsequent attempts to upload the same CD from another computer is allowed with a minimum new subscription)

2006 - 2010: FoM buys Pandora, iTunes, YouTube, RIM, Turntable.fm, Facebook and a controlling interest in Sirius. OSG helps FoM branch the Blackberry, creating the "Rockberry", a consumer-oriented "mobile media sharing device". OSG solicits auditions from all musicians everywhere, showcasing the best on YouTube. FoM makes record profits from tours, downloads, streams, hardware, music licensing and merchandise. Cary Sherman becomes fifth richest man in the US.

2011: *FoM introduces choice "retro" vinyl, CD and tape catalogue for hipsters worldwide. OSG and RIAA move into "palatial" FoM office campus in Los Angeles, work begins on 30-story FoM tower in Manhattan.

Cross-posted from botaday.com

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Filed Under: alternate history, music, recording industry
Companies: riaa

46 Comments

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Ninja (profile), 18 Sep 2012 @ 6:54am

When you see how much money the MAFIAA left on the table over these last 10-15 years you can't help but laugh over their incompetence.
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- Mike C. (profile), 18 Sep 2012 @ 11:43am
  
  Re:
  you can't help but laugh over their incompetence
  
  I actually wonder why there haven't been shareholder lawsuits for breach of fiduciary duty. After all - they didn't do what they should have done to maximize future returns...
  
  /never happen
  //still fun to dream
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Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 18 Sep 2012 @ 7:53am

2012
2012:
FoM share price reaches $700 in the midst of a global recession. http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/aapl
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- Anonymous Coward, 18 Sep 2012 @ 9:12am
  
  Re: 2012
  We wouldn't be in a global recession if the legacy players weren't trying to fight the future. It's my firm belief that we are witnessing the end of the industrial age and the beginning of the technological age. Apple is making record profits in the midst of a global recession because they had the foresight to see what was coming and adapted to it.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - :Lobo Santo (profile), 18 Sep 2012 @ 9:44am
    
    Re: Re: 2012
    That's cute, but ignores the reality of the banking cartel--namely the central banks and how they control the money.
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    - Anonymous Coward, 18 Sep 2012 @ 10:42am
      
      Re: Re: Re: 2012
      True.
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Pink floyd, 18 Sep 2012 @ 8:35am

my alternative timeline
1998 BEFORE shit breaks loose they go and get a torrent tracker set it up with donations that part goes to the label and part to the site

then the free NON DRM downloading begins because its all here first and in the best quality people flock to it.....

rest is history it ends up with hundreds of millions of people
and makes as much or more then lawsuits and peace and happiness reign.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Sep 2012 @ 8:37am

Where we could be now...*sigh*. Sad part: we'll have to wait for the elderly individuals in the MAFIAA (and some politicians) to pass away before we can start being heard by the crusty politicians in Washington. This is a crude and rude way of saying it (forgive me for being blunt about it), but the MAFIAA will not stop hurting the public until its (driving) members no longer contribute. Those members won't stop while they're still alive, and they certainly won't change their ways (be nice if they did, but I doubt it).
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Chronno S. Trigger (profile), 18 Sep 2012 @ 8:38am

Man, I would have so much music right now, it would be ridiculous. At $5 a month, I would have had my account back in 1999. I'd actually know something about what's going on in music past the Linkin Park era.
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- tracker1 (profile), 18 Sep 2012 @ 12:52pm
  
  I know what you mean...
  Honestly, I was purchasing a few CDs a week when the original Napster was popular.. it was a great way to get new music, and sample an album before buying... maybe I was downloading more than I was buying.. now, I just don't do much if any of it.. I'll maybe buy 2CDs a year on average now.
  
  Same thing with DRM and video games... used to be at least a game a month, now it's been a few years, aside from the humble bundles.
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- Anonymous Coward, 19 Sep 2012 @ 12:20am
  
  Re:
  Funny thing about Linkin Park is, the band's still going, and strong. They're still making music; though it's drastically changed from what it was before. I actually kind of like the way they turned out.
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J, 18 Sep 2012 @ 8:47am

LOL
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sehlat (profile), 18 Sep 2012 @ 8:53am

2012: How Much Music Is In Your Collection?
Why, technically, ALL of it.

And I've got a "go to sleep" channel over the net with relaxing new age stuff and a "wake up" channel that blasts me out of bed in the morning and an "at work" channel that keeps me going all day and a "lullaby" channel for the kids and a romance channel for an evening with my wife and a "bow-chicka-bow-bow" channel for ...

GOD BLESS AND KEEP THE RIAA!!!!!

(I can't believe I wrote the above with a straight face.)
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- gorehound (profile), 18 Sep 2012 @ 9:23am
  
  Re: 2012: How Much Music Is In Your Collection?
  Fuck the RIAA !
  I listen to Non-RIAA Music and want nothing to do with Big Label Art.
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  - sehlat (profile), 18 Sep 2012 @ 10:45am
    
    Re: Re: 2012: How Much Music Is In Your Collection?
    Fuck the RIAA? Are you crazy? Do you know how many antibiotic-resistant STDs there are out there?
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    - gorehound (profile), 18 Sep 2012 @ 11:33am
      
      Re: Re: Re: 2012: How Much Music Is In Your Collection?
      Too Many out there !
      Fuck The RIAA
      So say we all.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Sep 2012 @ 8:53am

Add to the future...
As an expansion to their initial vinal offering the RIAA announces that they are releasing for download instructions that allow 3D printers to output the retro phonographs available to premium subscribers and is hailed as a master innovator yet again.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Sep 2012 @ 8:56am

I think the headline calls for the subjunctive: If the RIAA *were* innovative

However, since it actually speaks to the past: If the RIAA *had been* innovative

/sorry
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Sep 2012 @ 8:58am

Yeah they could have done all of that and more.
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Jason, 18 Sep 2012 @ 9:03am

"1999:...It recommends the gradual reduction in the production, marketing, storage and sales of CDs, vinyl and tape, keeping only a small reserve capacity*."

Woah, hold your horses. At this point most folks are still buying CDs, why not continue to capitalize on the existing production with a user-centered product and see how it goes? Specifically let the user custom mix their own lossless mix disc from their playlists with the same quality as the album CD to keep or share with a friend. Instead of strict DRM use a simple user registry to include special intro offers when the CD is gifted to a a new user. On a CD player, there's no interruption. On the computer, just a simple friendly intro discount offer.

Later, when we're fully post-CD, we're still in the mix'n'share mindset (because we're going to anyway) offer the same deal as a licensed-to-share digital playlist. Later still, turn it into an app.
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- tracker1 (profile), 18 Sep 2012 @ 12:54pm
  
  I remember something like that...
  I remember a couple of services in the late 90's that did custom mix CDs...
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Sep 2012 @ 9:11am

If there business was actually pleasing their customers in new and exciting ways you mean ?
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DannyB (profile), 18 Sep 2012 @ 9:15am

If the RIAA were innovative?

That's like supposing if dinosaurs would start a space program to survive an extinction level asteroid. Doing something, anything, would require actual work. Doing nothing (which is more familiar to them), while getting their wholly owned government to take away our freedom is easier and a lot more fun.
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- JEDIDIAH, 18 Sep 2012 @ 1:25pm
  
  Dr Who? Precisely.
  You have just described the Silurians and their Space Ark from the recently released-in-the-USA new season of Dr Who.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - That One Guy (profile), 18 Sep 2012 @ 3:57pm
    
    Re: Dr Who? Precisely.
    Oiy, spoilers you, some of us haven't gotten that far in the series yet.
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wxt38, 18 Sep 2012 @ 9:19am

Mike, I want some of what you're smoking.
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- Anonymous Coward, 19 Sep 2012 @ 2:09am
  
  Re:
  shhhhh, the AC may want to get some too.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Sep 2012 @ 9:49am

hahahahahahahahaha.

you're kiddin' me! never gonna happen! too much sense in this post!!
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Manfred Manfriend, 18 Sep 2012 @ 10:22am

:::SIGH:::
I ever so desperately want to live in your world Innovative RIAA....
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Lord Binky, 18 Sep 2012 @ 10:35am

Fantasy is the other side of the fence.
If this innovativeness was pervasive in this alternate reality, their viewpoint of us would be a post-apocalyptic fantasy.
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average joe, 18 Sep 2012 @ 11:30am

This has been a great success. Damn trolls trying to suggest the RIAA and MPAA sue individuals. They have support artist and customers with reasonably priced goods, great and rare offers. Available all over the globe. No need for government monopolies or crap laws push through on the sly.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Sep 2012 @ 11:54am

Exactly...Napster was their golden goose. Could have made zillions. If they could see the big picture. AA's fail just die and go away.
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Claire Ryan (profile), 18 Sep 2012 @ 12:43pm

Just want to make an addendum to all that... WORLDWIDE.

All the innovation you can pay for is partly wasted when you're locking out millions of potential customers with regional restrictions.

Why settle for making {bunch o' money x United States online population} when you could be, I dunno, using the GLOBAL COMMUNICATION NETWORK to make {bunch o' money x the whole online world}?
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Sep 2012 @ 2:16pm

I have the same magical powers where I can look at history and make better decisions than the people who lived. Why are people in the past so dumb? Don't they know what's going to happen in the future?
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- Chronno S. Trigger (profile), 18 Sep 2012 @ 2:56pm
  
  Re:
  So you agree that what the recording industry did in the past was unwise. Well, that puts you ahead of them, you're willing to admit it.
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- Anonymous Coward, 18 Sep 2012 @ 3:00pm
  
  Re:
  Ever heard of Steve Jobs and Xerox PARC. Maybe Steve Wozniak.
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Ed C., 18 Sep 2012 @ 3:09pm

The real RIAA
That could have happened, if the RIAA was run by forward-looking entrepreneurs who actually cared about artist, music and culture. But when you realize they're run by backward-looking management trying to justify their fees to foolishly greedy labels, while avoiding any actual work, and lawyers looking for work to justify their fees to the management, the real timeline almost makes perfect sense.
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- Scott, 18 Sep 2012 @ 5:01pm
  
  Re: The real RIAA
  I predict that the Kim Dotcom case would spell huge trouble for RIAA and MPAA,if Kim Dotcom wins eventually.Just think what he'll do to them and FBI trying to make example out of him through unscrupulous means.
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  - Ed C., 18 Sep 2012 @ 5:41pm
    
    Re: Re: The real RIAA
    LOL. Saddly, the MAFIAA will just keep going, round after round. They can't be stopped until every last penny and bit of IP is out of their grasp.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Sep 2012 @ 6:33pm

God, what a classic piece of crap.

Sorry, but you can stand today and look back, like a Monday morning Quarterback, and claim all of these things should have been obvious. They were not at the time at all. Even today, it's not clear that any of this could work out, because other players would be there doing other things, and other pressures would exist.

Sorry, but the story reads like a 'tardian fairy tale. Even Mike Masnick doesn't have the balls to write something this stupid.
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- GreenPirate (profile), 18 Sep 2012 @ 9:38pm
  
  Re: obvious
  Yeah, the Wright brothers also should have never tried their stupid flying machine idea either. It was never obvious that it would fly. Why bother?
  
  We are most fortunate to have individuals who are brave enough to try and fail until they get it right. If we had nothing but anonymous cowards in this world, we would still be living in caves.
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GreenPirate (profile), 18 Sep 2012 @ 9:34pm

Loss of Innovation
Would a loss of economic progress hold up as well as "loss of sale" claims in court? Think of the hundreds of thousands of people who have lost their jobs because of this!
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Ophelia Millais (profile), 18 Sep 2012 @ 10:10pm

The RIAA is a PR, lobbying, and litigation organization funded and run by label executives and lawyers. A more realistic timeline would not cast it as a cadre of technology innovators or as some kind of centralized megalabel, but rather as a forum of market-responsive cheerleaders and venture capitalists�an organization with the power to embrace changing trends in how people consume music, and to invest in the externally-developed mix of both centralized and decentralized technology relating to distribution, consumption, and re-use of the labels' IP assets.

Imagine if the labels had backed things like these as they came along: MP3.com's locker/streaming tech; all the P2P innovations before and including BitTorrent; SHOUTcast and other streaming radio; deep-catalog vendors like iTunes/Amazon/etc.; crowdsourced metadata like CDDB/Gracenote, MusicBrainz, Discogs, etc.; content review, rating, filtering, and tastemaker outlets like DJ mixes and music blogs; online content aggregators and search engines; YouTube... It still astonishes me that they consider companies who develop and find markets for this tech the enemy. They will say a video-embedding content aggregator or the operator of a torrent tracker and forum are villains raking in an illegal fortune, yet it has always been within the power of the RIAA to make it legal and get a hefty cut of those profits with the mere stroke of a pen on a percentage-of-revenue-based licensing agreement.

The labels barely even have a grip on their own assets, and it was even worse in 1999. Someone from one of the major labels in 2006(!) asked me where they could find a complete discography of their releases, because they didn't even know what all they had put out! You'd think they'd know their own catalog and have it all organized nicely internally, with every master tape all perfectly preserved, but they were never in the library business; they only kept what they believed there would be a market for, and they weren't about to consider the possibility that technology was very quickly going to fuel interest in preserving everything they had ever done.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Sep 2012 @ 11:13pm

It's a beautiful alternate version of history. Very sad that it's not actual history.
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Anonymous Coward, 19 Sep 2012 @ 3:23pm

1999: Realizing the inevitable, the RIAA convinces member labels to set up all-you-can eat buffets. All music available as DRM-free downloads, $5/mo. 100M of storage, additionally available for increased monthly fee.

Statements like this betray a fundamental lack of understanding in how creative businesses work.

How does a recording contract signed in 1983 play out in such a scenario? Do you think the labels had the foresight to include digital streaming rights in their contracts that far back? They did not.

That's why a lot of this whining about the labels' behavior at the turn of the century is naive. Even today, labels and legacy artists are still hashing out the particulars of streaming/digital distro vs. manufacturing. The labels did not have the right to distribute their catalogs by digital, non-physical means when Napster hit the scene. Had they been on board, there's no guarantee they could have gotten all their artists to go along. Regardless, as every contract would need to be renegotiated, it would have still been a time-consuming process.

Why do you think it took the Beatles so long to turn up on iTunes? Are we to believe that they were just building up demand for over ten years?
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- Niall (profile), 20 Sep 2012 @ 2:34am
  
  Re:
  It says a lot about how stupid contracts were in both directions not to allow for technological progress in any form, anticipated or unanticipated.
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