Song swappers not the RIAA's biggest problem?

[konichiwa]

BBC

In just three years, sales of pirate CDs have more than doubled, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).

Every third CD sold is a pirate copy, says the federation.

The IFPI's Commercial Music Piracy 2003 report, produced in early July, reveals pirate CD sales rose 14% in 2002 and exceeded one billion units for the first time.

 

[Czar]

those are the real criminals, making money out of it

 

[Linflas]

Many of the people using file-sharing systems are looking for singles. By contrast the music industry is focussed on shifting albums.

I have made this point time and time again in any discussion about the whole RIAA vs mp3 debate but no one seems to really get it. When I was a kid there was an entire distribution system based on 45's that put a hit on the A side and a normally crappy song on the flip side. Much like mp3's the 45 recordings were inferior to the 33 1/3 LP but that didn't matter since the point was exposure. We traded them around and taped them like there was no tomorrow and the recording industry prospered. Like it or not the RIAA will eventually have to face up to the reality that their business model is in drastic need of an overhaul and alienating their base of consumers is not going to help in that process.

 

[jjones]

Originally posted by: Linflas

Many of the people using file-sharing systems are looking for singles. By contrast the music industry is focussed on shifting albums.

I have made this point time and time again in any discussion about the whole RIAA vs mp3 debate but no one seems to really get it. When I was a kid there was an entire distribution system based on 45's that put a hit on the A side and a normally crappy song on the flip side. Much like mp3's the 45 recordings were inferior to the 33 1/3 LP but that didn't matter since the point was exposure. We traded them around and taped them like there was no tomorrow and the recording industry prospered. Like it or not the RIAA will eventually have to face up to the reality that their business model is in drastic need of an overhaul and alienating their base of consumers is not going to help in that process.

Agreed, the very same things occurred to me also.

 

[ClueLis]

I went on an exchange with my school to Spain last march, and two things surprised me.

1)The price of CDs. Who in their right mind would pay ?24 for an album? As a result:

2)The amount on pirating going on. In addition to everyone having a copy of Kazaa, pirated CDs absolutely cover the street. It seems that in Madrid, you can see someone selling priated discs from any point in the city. It was kinda scarey, really.

Eidited for grammer.

 

[Martin]

Originally posted by: ClueLis
I went on an exchange with my school to Spain last march, and two things surprised me.

1)The price of CDs. Who in their right mind would pay ?24 for an album? As a result:

2)The amount on pirating going on. In addition to everyone having a copy of Kazaa, pirated CDs absolutely cover the street. It seems that in Madrid, you can see someone selling priated discs from any point in the city. It was kinda scarey, really.

Eidited for grammer.

that's true. On the steets of Sofia you can buy any album (with cover art and such) for 7 lv (5.5CDN). For 13lv (11CDN) you can get a disc with mp3s -- 10 or 11 albums.

 

[Tab]

Heh, this even goes agaisnt the point of warez, sharing. Agreed the RIAA does need to change their model. However, It is stealing by downloading music you have not paid for. Just because you think the RIAA are assholes, already makes enough money, overprices their products, sells crappy products ect gives you absolutely no right to steal from them. Of course I do warez and I am a complete theif, I wont deny it like some people. If got cought you wouldn't see me making piss poor excuses. Then again I barley have anything

 

[charrison]

Imagine the volume of cds that could be sold for $5-8 rather than $15-18...

 

[Brie]

Originally posted by: charrison
Imagine the volume of cds that could be sold for $5-8 rather than $15-18...

Yes price is realated to demand...no one is questioning that. If the entire music industry cut prices by 10% I would still thing that CD sales would fall Y-Y for at least two years and there will be just as many Kazaa users as before. P2P will always be a BIG problem (in the eyes of the RIAA) for any realistic price cut.

 

[konichiwa]

Originally posted by: Tabb
Heh, this even goes agaisnt the point of warez, sharing. Agreed the RIAA does need to change their model. However, It is stealing by downloading music you have not paid for. Just because you think the RIAA are assholes, already makes enough money, overprices their products, sells crappy products ect gives you absolutely no right to steal from them. Of course I do warez and I am a complete theif, I wont deny it like some people. If got cought you wouldn't see me making piss poor excuses. Then again I barley have anything

No one's trying to justify stealing; only pointing out that the RIAA's vendetta against personal users is a waste of time and a PR ploy that is more likely to backfire on them than create any positive (i.e. piracy-lowering) results.

 

[LunarRay]

Originally posted by: charrison
Imagine the volume of cds that could be sold for $5-8 rather than $15-18...

The volume would not change. (too much) These folks are in the business to maximize profits and if they could earn more $ at a lower price / higher quantiy scenerio they would have done it.... any one would.. the pirate seller is indeed a real bad guy. Folks think they are getting a great deal by buying a pirated CD... they want the exactness of copy versus the 128bit mp3 sound. These are the folks who would pay $15 for the CD instead of Downloading it..

CD Pirates should be hit with RICCO statutes and maybe the Patriot Act too..

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: Tabb
Heh, this even goes agaisnt the point of warez, sharing. Agreed the RIAA does need to change their model. However, It is stealing by downloading music you have not paid for. Just because you think the RIAA are assholes, already makes enough money, overprices their products, sells crappy products ect gives you absolutely no right to steal from them. Of course I do warez and I am a complete theif, I wont deny it like some people. If got cought you wouldn't see me making piss poor excuses. Then again I barley have anything

Not to nit pick but you have already bought into the RIAA's propaganda by using the term "stealing music". Downloading music is indeed a copyright infringement if you do not have a legally purchased version in another medium but it is not stealing. Now to explore this a little bit further lets set up a hypothetical situation. I own the 3 album set of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "Dirt, Silver, and Gold". It is 3 vinyl record albums in excellent shape that I can play any time I please on a turntable. For some odd reason known only to the RIAA and the studio that produced the album they only produced the CD version for a very short time then took it off the market. I have yet to hear any argument that would convince me that downloading the MP3's of this album in any way infringe on anyone's copyright. The only thing I have done differently from what I used to do is to allow someone else to take the time and effort to rip the music into a different format than I own.

It was already settled back in the 1980's that my fair use rights allowed me to record this album I legally purchased onto other media (Cassette, reel to reel) for my personal use so long as I did not resell it. The RIAA hated this much in the same way the MPAA seethes over the idea that I am covered by fair use rights to record television broadcasts for my personal use. They did manage to slip through the DMCA which drastically changed many of the things that most of us collectively viewed as covered by fair use but that does not mean that it will stand in the long run. The BBC article did point out the ugly truth that the biggest threat to the recording industry is mass copyright infringement by counterfeiters that resell copies but since they operate in places like China and Taiwan where the RIAA has no power or by organized crime in the US where the RIAA again can do little to effect change they take the easy way out and blame the masses that trade MP3's on the internet.