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RIAA: More full of S#@$ than ever before

Tuesday, December 12, 2006 | 12:45 PM

We have long railed against the stupidity of the recording industry, and their obnoxious pederast front group, the Recording Industry Association of America.

Anyone who thought the RIAA was anything less than a group of shameless hucksters shilling on behalf of their corporate masters should by now be thoroughly disabused of that notion.

The latest proof of their whoring activities comes in in their new proposed royalty schedule for song writers and lyricists:

"Throughout its campaign against peer-to-peer services, The Recording Industry Association of America has insisted, unequivocally, that file-sharing hurt musicians. There is a clear correlation between file-sharing and loss of revenue for the music industry, the RIAA argues, one that undermines the livlihoods of the recording artists whose work it peddles. It's a sympathetic argument and one that the group has trotted out time and time again as it fired off lawsuits at college students, grade schoolers and deceased grandmothers.

But it's a disingenous one as well. Because much as the RIAA would like us to see it as a champion of creative artists, it's an industry group concerned with industry profits. And the best interests of artists matter little when it comes to exploiting the revenue streams they create. So, while it's sad to hear that the RIAA is lobbying to reduce rates on royalties paid to songwriters, it's not unexpected. Earlier this month, the group began petitioning government Copyright Royalty Judges to lower the rates paid to publishers and songwriters for use of lyrics and melodies in applications like cell phone ring tones. Citing general music industry change, RIAA Executive Vice President and General Council Steven Marks told The Hollywood Reporter that so-called "Mechanical Royalties" have become badly outdated. That may be true, but is reducing them really the answer? If anything they should be increased, shouldn't they? Particularly if ringtone services generated additional revenues at a time when piracy was "devastating" the record industry. My God, don't these people ever stop?" (GMSV)

I don't understand why musicians and songwriters put up with this sort of crap.

But don't think its just here in the US that where cancerous industry groups lie cheat and steal. They do the same in the UK too . . .

See Also

Squeezing Money From the Music http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/11/business/media/11music.html

Sources:
Labels seek lower royalty rate
Brooks Boliek
Hollywood Reporter, Dec 1, 2006
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003466811

RIAA proposes new "Less is More" royalty schedule
John Paczkowski
GMSV, December 11, 2006, 06:03 AM
http://blogs.siliconvalley.com/gmsv/2006/12/throughout_its_.html

RIAA Petitions Judges to Lower Artist Royalties
Aggressively litigious group has claimed to protect musicians in the past. Now believes musicians deserve less for "innovative" music distribution.
Gerry Block
IGN.com, December 7, 2006
http://gear.ign.com/articles/749/749883p1.html

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» RIAA: More full of S#@$ than ever before from A Little Ludwig Goes A Long Way
it is hard to feel sympathy for the industry when they are actively working both ends of the revenue stream at once -- whacking users to get us to pay more, and whacking artists to pay them less -- The... [Read More]

Tracked on Dec 12, 2006 1:08:45 PM