RIAA blames downloaders for bad sales, beg to differ

[ColdFusion718]

We all know lately the RIAA has really been cracking down on people who share music. Yes people should not be downloading copyrighted stuff that they did not pay for.

For that, the RIAA is justified in doing what they've been doing lately.

However, they seem to be putting the blame squarely on music-sharing. blame meaning bad sales, huge losses in revenues.

Ok if you look at their statistics in the past few years, it would seem so.

Has anyone thought about perhaps bad sales have been due to SH!TTY music being released over the past decade? I used to buy cds every month years ago. I don't buy cds now nor do I even go download music.

What's your take on this ladies and gentlemen?

 

[jpeyton]

I think the latest trend is spending money on DVDs and video games. That's where RIAA's money is going.

 

[NinjaGnome]

Im sorry its my fault that record sales are down. I just dont feel compelled to pay 14 or 15 bux for a CD with one good song on it. I have bought 2 CD's this year and they were from bands I know wouldnt sell out and make a bad album. Only CD I havent bought that I wanted was the Chevelle cd.

 

[Chaotic42]

Yeah, I don't buy many CDs anymore. Why pay $20 for a CD when I can buy a DVD movie for $8-12?

 

[ColdFusion718]

Originally posted by: NinjaGnome
Im sorry its my fault that record sales are down. I just dont feel compelled to pay 14 or 15 bux for a CD with one good song on it. I have bought 2 CD's this year and they were from bands I know wouldnt sell out and make a bad album. Only CD I havent bought that I wanted was the Chevelle cd.

Thank you! Finally someone isn't just going along with the media's BS. Oh yeah, making it illegal to back up your own copies for safekeeping doesn't encourage people to buy music either.

 

[NinjaGnome]

They can charge me a dollar for every song that I havent bought and id only owe them about 50 bux. Why cant they just charge a buck a song? I dont see how thats so unresonable with them. They need to get with the times or go down.

 

[Hector13]

could it be that we were in a recession the past few years?? I doubt that record sales were down any more (or even as much) as some other retail sectors (ie, cars, computers, etc.).

 

[LordJezo]

Originally posted by: ColdFusion718

Originally posted by: NinjaGnome
Im sorry its my fault that record sales are down. I just dont feel compelled to pay 14 or 15 bux for a CD with one good song on it. I have bought 2 CD's this year and they were from bands I know wouldnt sell out and make a bad album. Only CD I havent bought that I wanted was the Chevelle cd.

Thank you! Finally someone isn't just going along with the media's BS. Oh yeah, making it illegal to back up your own copies for safekeeping doesn't encourage people to buy music either.

You can't do that legally anymore?

Thats a shame.. too bad I will keep doing it..

When I do buy a cd for $15 and keep it in my car there is no way I am going to abuse the original cd in the way the sleeve would. I back up my good cds, keep the originals in the case they came in, and just toss the copies around in my car. Why is that illegal?

 

[Deeko]

See, here is something they don't quite grasp. We are in a bad economy. Retail sales are down everywhere, it isn't just CD's.

 

[tweakmm]

I don't even think album sales have decreased, the smaller numbers are because they didn't release as many albums as they have in the past.
I don't believe the RIAA really thinks that P2P is hurting sales, they want to retain their monopoloy on the music industry and internet distribution could potentialy screw the RIAA out of everything.

 

CD sales are down because:

a: the recession
b: rise of video games and DVDs
c: today's music sucks
d: cd prices are too high

So what does the RIAA do? Blame their customers. Not only that, they blackmail them with outrageous lawsuits and an army of lawyers. They hit some blue collar family with a multi-billion dollar lawsuit for downloading 1,000 or so songs. The family is supposed to be relieved when the RIAA offers to settle at $10,000. That's $100 a song or at today's $20 CD rates the cost of 5 CDs per downloaded song!

The good thing that came out of it all is that it's been a public relations nightmare for the RIAA as well it should be. I don't see why some middle-aged record company exec in a ponytail should get a higher cut from a CD's sales than the artist. It's pricks like that who are panicking over the digital distribution upturn. They will eventually be cut out of the loop and wont be able to afford their cocaine and prostitutes anymore.

 

[Miramonti]

they pissed people off including me by making them WAY too expensive. they reap what they sow.

 

[0roo0roo]

:

a: the recession
b: rise of video games and DVDs
c: today's music sucks
d: cd prices are too high

all true, but the spread and ease of use of mass piracy is also a factor. 'm sure you all know people who have stopped buying cds all together and become leeches. most people don't seem to think music is sh*tty enough that they wouldn't spend time even downloading it


do you think dvds and console games would be pirated as much if it were just as easy to get near perfect copies? of course.

people are theives, esp the younger generation who've grown up with parents without a clue about the computers their kids are using.

and well.. teens always have a "down with the man" mentality that works out for theft.

 

[Miramonti]

Anyone think Microsoft has learned from the RIAA?

they have information on pirated windows versions thru windowsupdate but haven't pursued anyone.

 

all true, but the spread and ease of use of mass piracy is also a factor. 'm sure you all know people who have stopped buying cds all together and become leeches. most people don't seem to think music is sh*tty enough that they wouldn't spend time even downloading it

That's the thing. I go on usenet and have high-quality rips of just about every top 100 album at my disposal and I am not interested in downloading any of them!

 

[Rob9874]

I agree. I think the standards of what is considered "good" music has declined over the years. I used to buy CDs weekly. Now I can't remember the last one I bought, or one I'm looking forward to buying. I play guitar, and used to have fun figuring out the songs on CDs. I haven't done that in years. And the kids today with their idea of great music: Radiohead, Coldplay, John Mayer.... Ugh, give me a break. Am I the only one who thinks that stuff is crap? Where is today's Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, The Beatles? Heck, I'd even take a modern day Journey, Queen, or Van Halen. Even bands that used to be good suck today. Has anyone heard Metallica's new one? Where has all the good rock gone? I think I feel my calling from God to create good music again, and start a musical revolution.

 

[Ness]

I've said it about 5 billion times, but it's pitiful that people keep saying that all the music is sh!tty, then they try to justify downloading it.

No one said people can't buy old CDs. Best Buy has an excellent selection of them.

Additionally, the real and only causes for slumping sales are that people have taken CDs out of their budget because of file-sharing, and even now that people are finally stopping it, they haven't put that amount back in, and therefore don't/can't buy the CDs...

AND.. people are finally buying used CDs. This is a smart move and a good thing.

 

[rbV5]

I say give the music away, make the money on the tours...

 

[Rob9874]

I think file sharing is holding artists to a higher standard. No longer are people buying CDs from one-hit-wonders, and paying for 1 good song, and 10 crappy ones. I still buy CDs that I love (as I said, it's far and few between), but when bands have 2 or 3 good songs, people can just download them and pass on the other 8 or 9 crappy ones they're trying to peddle. That's why I think more music companies should offer high-quality songs for download, and we can burn our own CDs. Why do we have to pay for songs we don't want, packaging, manufacturing, shipping, etc? They'd end up with a greater profit just selling us the raw songs.

 

[Dedpuhl]

Originally posted by: Rob9874
I agree. I think the standards of what is considered "good" music has declined over the years. I used to buy CDs weekly. Now I can't remember the last one I bought, or one I'm looking forward to buying. I play guitar, and used to have fun figuring out the songs on CDs. I haven't done that in years. And the kids today with their idea of great music: Radiohead, Coldplay, John Mayer.... Ugh, give me a break. Am I the only one who thinks that stuff is crap? Where is today's Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, The Beatles? Heck, I'd even take a modern day Journey, Queen, or Van Halen. Even bands that used to be good suck today. Has anyone heard Metallica's new one? Where has all the good rock gone? I think I feel my calling from God to create good music again, and start a musical revolution.

Metallica's "new one" is great....but it takes getting used to....


File-sharing is hitting their pocketbook in a small way. The music artists are forced to put out quantity over quality. DVD sales have skyrocketed and video games are popular as ever.

Out of my rather extensive collection of music, I would estimate that 6 of the CDs are from 2002 and 2003. There hasn't been anything new released that I want to listen to or even download...

 

[DurocShark]

Originally posted by: Dedpuhl
Metallica's "new one" is great....

Sorry. That was so funny...

I was one of Metallica's early fans. Saw them lots in the '80's. Even went to see Ozzy's Ultimate Sin show just because Metallica was opening. (For you younguns... That Ultimate Sin tour was Ozzy's attempt at glamrock. LoL)

The music since Load has been total garbage IMHO. And if that wasn't bad enough, they decided to play poster boy for the RIAA. Bleh.

I agree with the original post that while there's lots of music I kinda like, nothing really grabs me like Zep, Van Halen, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Queensryche, etc. I like some Linkin Park, the first Limp Bizkit CD, and maybe some 311. But none of it would justify paying well over $10 for the CD. And it's not worth the trouble to find used ones either.

The last CD I bought was the Best Of Van Halen vol.1. I just wanted the new David Lee Roth songs. (I'm pissed at Eddie and Alex for the crap they pulled with DLR and Sammy during the making of this CD too...)

BTW: Anybody got a DVD of the Queensryche Operation Mindcrime show to sell cheap?

EDIT: I didn't say above, but I don't download music either (at least nothing that I can buy). If I want it, I'll buy it if it's available. The stuff that's available on Kazaa and whatever is crap. I have downloaded oddball stuff that's either public domain or freely available by the author. And Kazaa never has any of that. Gotta go to mp3.com or the artists website.

 

[Drekce]

Have any of you noticed that whenever an article comes out discussing the "decline" of record sales they always compare the current year to 1999? If you look at the number of album sales from the years 1997-2002 it is easy to see that 1999 was an abnormal year. Its sales numbers were much higher than the years before or after it. If you compare 2002's sales to 1998 or 1999 there is actually an increase! The reason that 1999 was an outlier is because that was the year of the "boy band" and other similiar acts. N'Sync, Backstreet Boys, Britney, etc. all had high selling albums that year. Compare to 2002 and it is easy to see why the sales numbers "droped."

 

[Rob9874]

Ah, another Queensryche fan. Good man. Queensryche held themselves to a higher standard of music. It's too bad kids today just pass them off as a "hair band" like Bon Jovi or Poison. I think the younger generation is quick to make fun of the past, while they listen to their Jason Mraz CD. I can't wait for the 10-12 year olds of today bash the crap people are listening to in 2003. Behind the Music and Where Are They Now will be great in 2008. I'll be watching and laughing.

"<Insert band here> were at the top of their game in 2003. But by 2005, people realized that their music was no good, and the band never recovered. Next on Behind the Music."

 

Originally posted by: jjsole
Anyone think Microsoft has learned from the RIAA?

they have information on pirated windows versions thru windowsupdate but haven't pursued anyone.

This is a good thing, I know alot of people who have pirated xp copies but even more who don't mind spending money for the legit thing. I have bought 2 legit copies (including one that came with my laptop) because they were reasonably priced ($7.50 from school and $50 from hot deals forum).

If they made cd's cheaper i would buy them again, as of now I download instead of buy......

 

[Rob9874]

Originally posted by: Phocas

If they made cd's cheaper i would buy them again, as of now I download instead of buy......

This is a good point. I think this is a great example of Adam Smith's "iron hand". This is a free market economy at its best. For years, the music industry has been able to gouge us with whatever prices they chose. I think this file sharing thing is a market adjustment. Consumers are tired of paying the high prices, and have found an alternative. I think the only way the RIAA can regain sales is to lower CD prices. Of course, they'll have to lower their manufacturing costs to maintain a comperable profit margin. But I would buy more CDs if they were $5-$8.

Sorry to post so many messages in this thread. This is just something I feel strongly about.