Quote:
Originally posted by JohnDoe345
What all the fuss is about is that record labels are lossing revenue because CD's are their bread and butter. Once the artists realize that then they will finally see that record labels are no longer needed. Only the really big artists truely benefit from records labels, but this is something they can do themselves if they had a good manager.
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the point is excellent jd. there is nothing today a record company can do for an artist, from development to distribution, that the artist can't do for themselves, and better with less interference and more control.
this riaa fight has never been about artists but about a small group of mostly foreign owned media giants trying desperately to protect a corrupt and monopolistic hegemony. nothing else.
By LAURA M. HOLSON, NYT
WHEN it comes to musical styles, Britney Spears, Luciano Pavarotti and Sean Combs, lately known as P. Diddy, do not appear to have much in common. But in a series of advertisements that begin running today, they are joining with 86 other recording artists to speak out against unauthorized music file-sharing, claiming it threatens the livelihood of everyone from recording artists and writers to sound engineers and record-store clerks.
"Would you go into a CD store and steal a CD?" asks Ms. Spears in one commercial to be shown in coming weeks. "It's the exact same thing, so why do it?"
In a print ad, Shakira, the hip-swiveling Latin pop star, urges the public to just "Say no to piracy." And Mr. Combs — in a statement released by the Recording Industry Association of America, which is largely financing the multimillion-dollar campaign — pleads with consumers to "Put yourself in our shoes!"
The new campaign, which officially runs under the auspices of a coalition of music professionals called Music United for Strong Internet Copyright, was developed by Amster Yard, a division of the IPG Sports and Entertainment Group, which also represents the Recording Industry Association of America. It comes at a difficult time for the recording industry. Sales of CD's fell nearly 7 percent during the first half of this year, largely, the industry claims, because of Internet piracy and file-sharing.
The campaign breaks the same day as the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property begins hearings on piracy and the Internet. The recording industry has long been criticized for failing to assuage disillusioned consumers who want cheaper and more accessible music over the Internet. The Department of Justice, meanwhile, is investigating whether the paid on-line music sites developed by the record labels violate antitrust provisions by hampering smaller competitors.
The recording industry, too, has been criticized by artist rights groups, who complain that the industry's accounting rules favor the labels and that the standard seven-year recording contract is akin to indentured servitude. On Tuesday, in fact, representatives of the Recording Artists Coalition, which include the former Eagles singer Don Henley who is not included in the new campaign, were at a California State Senate hearing testifying about the industry's accounting practices. But mutual interests have brought them together for this campaign against file-swapping.
What will be interesting to watch, industry executives say, is whether consumers are alienated by a campaign that speaks of the travails of wealthy artists like Mr. Combs, who has some fans who are hard pressed to afford not only his shoes but also the suits and jackets he sells under his Sean John clothing line.
"This is not a campaign created to engender sympathy," said Hilary Rosen, chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of America. "We are saying there is a significant problem and it is affecting us and it is illegal."
David Munns, the vice chairman of EMI Recorded Music, added, "There is a whole generation of people that don't know illegally swapping files is stealing."
Not everyone agrees that the most pressing problem facing the industry is theft. In a study released yesterday by KPMG, the tax and financial accounting firm, media companies were chided for spending too much time combating pirates instead of tackling the more difficult issue of finding new ways to profit by distributing music and movies online. And other critics say that the industry's poor performance in finding new artists that appeal to consumers is more responsible for the malaise than any threat from the Internet.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/26/business/26ADCO.html
- js.