"A musician needs the RIAA like a fish needs a bicycle."
"If you get nothing else out of my website, at least go to this link for a good laugh..."
The History of Sharing Music:
~File sharing is the new digitized version of "old school" mix-tapes & swapping tapes with your friends. Back in the late 70's, punk music fans from NY connected with each other & created 'fanzines,' which were given away for free at punk concerts. At the same time in the Bronx, fans were spreading the sound of hip-hop beats because they would copy & share tapes of hip-hop artist like Grandmaster Flash. These 2 different types of music were just becoming known in those those days; hip-hop and punk were babies in the world of music genres. They were not well-known or mass-marketed, but thanks to the diehard music fans that would not just lie down and take the 'popular music' of the time, the music was spread and now has huge fan bases all over the world.
*How p2p networks help the 'little guys'
~Everyone has watched tv shows like "Driven" & "Behind the Music" where the narrator details the usually slow, steady rise of how an artist gets their big break. The truth about most artists is that before they can become big-name record breaking artists, they usually have to spend months or years on the road singing for little or nothing in seedy bars - trying to get recognized and get a record deal... With p2p networks, unsigned artists or even garage bands can get their music heard by people all over the world, merely by taping one of their songs, and uploading it to the internet. That's one of the glories of systems like Napster, a band can get their name out and their music heard, and build up their reputation. Just doing that won't guarantee a record deal, but it helps a lot more than just traveling around singing in bars, and hoping for a record exec to see you.
*Who uses p2p networks?
~Systems like Napster, Grokster, Kazaa, etc, are very user-friendly so just about anyone like adults, seniors, and children with little or no PC experience can nagivate the sites fairly easily. It seems to me that most of the news stories in the media are aiming most of the finger-pointing at teenagers for being the primary abusers of these types of freeware. As it turns out, "better studies suggest that college students are actually a minority of Napster users. Most Napster users are over 30" (Massey, 194).
*Who gets 'hurt' by p2p networks & filesharing?
~During one of the many lawsuits against Napster, the plaintiff alleged that Napster had hurt CD sales among college students because they have access to high-speed internet connections. This theory was tested by a digital-rights management company called Reciprocal, "Sales were examined from 2,099 record stores located within one mile of 3,454 US campuses" (Massey, 193). The results of this survey showed a 7% drop in sales between 1998 and 2000. The problem is that Napster only started in August of 1999, taking up only the last 17 months (1 year, 4 months) of the study, which lasted a total of 36 months (3 years, 1998-2000). So the question was, if sales dropped BEFORE Napster, then the reasons, must have been price changes, online sales, or a change in buying habits (Massey, 194). So in theory, the industry really cannot blame Napster for that drop if it was not the only cause for it...
On the other hand, there are reports that show MP3's actually help the CD business. Studies done by Soundscan, an industry sales tracking service, showed CD sales were UP 7% during the 1st quarter of 2000 (WHILE Napster was operating, thank you), as compared to the 1st quarter of 1999 (Massey, 194). So basically, CD's were selling 7% better within a year of the end of the previous survey.
*The Birth, Death & Revival of Napster:
~In 1999, 18-yr-old Shawn Fanning created Napster from his dorm room at Northwestern University because he was frustrated with how few mp3’s were available on the internet. Napster is “the world’s leading person-2-person file sharing community […] with nearly 85 million passionate music fans. Napster provides music enthusiasts with an easy-to-use, high quality service for discovering new music” (Metallica.com).
Shawn Fanning
In July of 2001, the company voluntarily shut down because it could not follow through on a court order to filter certain songs out of the system. After the plug was pulled, Bertlesmann took over the network, since it had invested over $85 million dollars in Napster over a period of only a few months (D'Angelo, Napster Disaster).
Now, Napster is back, but in my opinion the new version can’t hold a candle to the old one which I think had a more user-friendly design. Also, I have read that there are still many artists who have not given permission to sell their music on it, so I believe the selection is quite smaller than before.
The new Napster’s deal is that users can pay 99 cents per song, buy complete albums for $9.95, and/or for a $9.95 monthly fee, users can download an unlimited amount of songs, listen to 40 online radio stations, and have access to message boards. However, the way I understand it is that if you subscribe to the monthly ‘unlimited songs’ plan, is that unless you save them onto your pc or burn them to a cd (which can only be done a certain amount of time), you have to continue paying the $10 a month for the service (D'Angelo, Napster Is Back).
*Who exactly IS the RIAA?!
~The RIAA stands for the Recording Industry Artists of America. The company is an oligopoly controlled by the 5 biggest record companies on the globe: Universal Music, Sony Music, Warner Music, EMI Music, & BMG Music. The RIAA creates and controls 90% of all music released around the world. A person’s chance of owning music from these companies are very high, since “if you’ve ever purchased a tape or CD, chances are 99 to 1 it was released under one of the hundreds of companies under these 5 labels” (Consumers Against the RIAA).
*What do they do besides harassing people?
~Basically, the RIAA hogs the industry so no independent labels ever have a chance, and gang up with music retailers to fix the artificially high price of CD’s. Oh, also, they pretty much decide exactly what music the world ever hears about and is informed about by deciding which CD’s are heavily promoted in stores, what music videos go into heavy rotation on music television channels and even have a tight hold on which songs get on the radio stations’ playlists!! (Consumers Against the RIAA).
*Have you ever wondered why CD's are so expensive?
~CD’s are much more durable than vinyl records, and they cost much less to make, so the question is why has the price almost doubled since the industry’s switch? The RIAA (who just happens to determine the prices of all CD’s) has been unable to come up with a realistic reason for the increases. **Also, in May of 2000, “five top labels settled with the FCC over anti-trust charges. It turns out they have been collaborating to keep CD prices $5 higher than they could be, defrauding fans of $480 million over the past four years” (Massey,192).
*What are the punishments for the online infringement of copyrighted music?
~A person’s first offense “can be punished by up to 3 years in prison and $250,000 [per song] in fines. Repeat offenders can be imprisoned up to 6 years. Individuals also may be held liable […] for up to $150,000 per infringed copyright” (Piracy Penalties).
Greetings from the RIAA
*Who suffers from online piracy?
~Supposedly, the artists are losing millions, but do artists like NSYNC (who made $93 million on their last tout) REALLY suffer from missing a few mil? I don’t see Madonna or Metallica begging for change to pay their rent - give me a break!
Besides, the real people suffering are probably the songwriters who still have to work for their living…Donna Dean, a member of the Tennessee Songwriters Association, states “more education is needed on illegal downloading to let people know that even though the record companies and recording artists may be filthy rich, most songwriters are not” (EFF).
The EFF's "Let The Music Play Petition"
*Is the system the RIAA uses to sue file-sharers fool-proof?
~NO! A 66-year-old grandma was sued for sharing more than 2,000 songs. The only reason the case was dropped was because she owned a Macintosh computer, which is incompatible with Kazaa. But the stubborn, blood-hungry RIAA only responded by saying, “the withdrawl doesn’t necessarily mean the organization made a mistake; it is simply giving [the woman] the benefit of a doubt until the matter can be further investigated” (D'Angelo, "Innocent Victim").
Also, Cindy Cohen, lawyer for an organization devoted to protecting privacy and defending free speech online (the Electronic Frontier Foundation), estimated that about “10% of those sued have contacted the EFF, claiming they were wrongfully sued” (EFF).
In fact, there is a HUGE flaw in the process used to find illegal file-sharers. Some of the ISP’s (like the grandma’s) do not have enough IP addresses ) which are like a computer’s fingerprint) for each client, so they routinely shuffle them around. If “one of the addresses 12-digit numbers is off or time of infringement is wrong, the wrong person could be hit with a multimillion-dollar lawsuit” (D'Angelo, Innocent Victim).
*Which artists and record labels are anti-online music?
Madonna "Madonna cusses her fans" , Linkin Park, EMI, Metallica, Dr. Dre, Interscope.
*Which artists and record labels support online music?
• Alanis Morissette • Ani DiFranco • Beastie Boys • Beggars Banquet • CD Baby • Chuck D • David Bowie • Einsteurzende Neubauten • Green Day • Ice T • Janis Ian • Justablip Records • Kristen Hersch • Matador Records • Michael Franti / Spearhead • Paula Cole • Pearl Jam • Phish • REM • Smashing Pumpkins • Sonic Youth • Streaming Geeks • They Might Be Giants • Ween • Wilco • Wonderlick
EFF.org - Will you be getting sued?
