[mythtv-users] It's over, the RIAA is toast

[Brad DerManouelian]

On Mar 5, 2008, at 3:57 AM, Joe Borne wrote:

> The article says it all. You're all intelligent people, I'll let you  
> discern for yourself why this is the death knell of the RIAA.
>
> "It looks like Trent Reznor's new Nine Inch Nails album experiment  
> is a success. Among the various options he gave fans, the most  
> expensive was the $300 Limited Edition Ultra Deluxe Package. It took  
> just over a day for that package to completely sell out, earning  
> Reznor $750,000 in revenue from just that option alone."
>
> http://slashdot.org/articles/08/03/05/076221.shtml

Yes, once you have had a successful record deal you can do stuff like  
that. Look at Radiohead's last record. "Pay whatever you want" model  
earned them loads of cash. I can put a record out tomorrow that is  
"download and pay whatever you want" and I'll get a total of about $50  
for my efforts. Even bands that aren't as popular can create listener- 
supported records (Einstürzende Neubauten did it a few years back  
where listeners paid a "subscription" fee for something like $25 and  
got to see live feeds of them in the studio making the record, your  
username printed on a poster that came with the CD and the CD mailed  
to you when it was done) but you need a major or relatively large  
label contract before you can do any of this stuff because most  
musicians simply can't afford to create and promote their music until  
they're already successful. $10k will get you a quality-sounding  
record, packaging plus promotion enough to get you a tiny bit of press  
and some online reviews. If you want any more than "some exposure",  
you're talking about $50k out of your pocket. That's what labels are  
for and that's the investment the RIAA is trying to protect for those  
labels. For every NIN or Radiohead success there are hundreds of $50k  
failures.

I whole-heartedly disagree with the RIAA tactics in trying to sue the  
listeners, but I also whole-heartedly agree the RIAA needs to exist. I  
want to know their lawyers are available in case someone tries to pass  
off one of my songs as their own or covers one of my songs and forgets  
to pay me. I know I don't have the money to fight that in court.

-Brad

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