Posted on 11/29/2007 6:43:15 AM PST by steve-b
One of the Big Four labels is apparently unhappy with its return on investment when it comes to funding industry trade groups such as the IFPI and RIAA. British label EMI, which was recently purchased by a private equity fund, is reportedly considering a significant cut to the amount of money it provides the trade groups on an annual basis.
According to figures seen by Reuters, each of the Big Four contributes approximately $132.3 million to fund the operations of the IFPI, RIAA, and other national recording industry trade groups. That money is used in part to fund the industry's antipiracy efforts—including the close to 30,000 file-sharing lawsuits filed by the record labels in the US alone....
Giving the music industry credit where credit is due, the labels have made some progress in the past year, especially when it comes to realizing how much consumers detest DRM. But one of the chief activities of the RIAA is coordinating the Big Four labels' legal campaign, and those thousands of lawsuits have done nothing but generate ill will from record fans, while costing the labels millions of dollars and doing little (if anything) to actually reduce the amount of file-sharing going on....
(Excerpt) Read more at arstechnica.com ...
who?
e.m.i. e.m.i. e.m.i.
too many people had the suss
too many people support us
an unlimited amount
too many outlets in and out
who?
e.m.i. e.m.i. e.m.i.
and sir and friends are crucified
a day they wish that we had died
we are an addition we are rivaled by none
never ever never
and you thought that we were faking
that we were all just money making
you do not believe we're for real
or you would lose your cheap appeal?
oh don't you judge a book just by the cover
unless you cover just another
and blind acceptance is a sign
of stupid fools who stand in line
like
e.m.i. e.m.i. e.m.i.
unlimited edition
with an unlimited supply
that was the only reason
we all had to say goodbye
unlimited supply e.m.i.
there is no reason why e.m.i.
i tell you it was all a frame e.m.i.
they only did it 'cos of fame e.m.i.
i do not need the pressure e.m.i.
i can't stand those useless fools e.m.i.
ulimited supply e.m.i.
hallo e.m.i.
goodbye a & m
From Never Mind the Bollocks
The Sex pistols
And so the record companies have finally entered the 1980s.
There will always be professional musicians. But the record industry is living on borrowed time.
Perhaps they could diversify by buying some buggy-whip makers and pager manufacturers.
I have been evaluating (more like “DE-valuating”) the new TV technologies to determine what equipment I ought to buy to bring myself out of obsolesence now that analog TV broadcasting is about to depart.
What I am learning is that there is some really good technology available, but ALL of it is crippled, disabled, or just omitted due to all of the content protection crap built into every device, technology, and datastream these days.
Using a VCR with a timer, could capture a high quality broadcast signal, play it back at a time of my own choosing, and archive it for later reference if I wished. And I could view the broadcast OR the recording at the highest quality supported by the available technology.
Today that is even more possible in technological terms, but made impossible - deliberately and MALICIOUSLY - by the enforced crippling of most of these activities in the name of protecting intellectual property. Setting aside the intellectual vacuity of the content, these people are stealing YOUR PROPERTY by denying you fair use uf what you bought and paid for, either in cash or by way of accepting the accompanying advertising.
I can buy a HD television that allows me to view the program as received. And I can record it - TEMPORARILY ONLY - for playback at high quality on a local hard disk. But if I want to archive that content, it will be deliberately downgraded to much lower quality. And these people are trying their best to criminalize the TECHNOLOGY to actually save this content in the form it was originally received.
I made my living in technology since 1958, when I first got a FCC license. I worked for IBM for 30 years in both hardware and software, then made my fortune consulting for several more years, so I am no technology rookie. So the fact that I am PROHIBITED from using appropriate and available technology for personal use, with NO harm or danger to ANYONE - and worse, that I have to listen to my elected representatives argue for their intentions to restrict my use of this technology even further - enrages me.
The record company executives and the RIAA suits would consider that too risky because you never know whether they would really "catch on" with the buying public, and anyway they couldn't control them and sue everyone who didn't use them the way that would make the highest windfall profits for the record companies.
The record companies are waking up though. Pretty soon they'll make progress into the 1800's.
Wait! Don’t forget that that blank VCR tape or blank CD/DVD disk that you bought and paid for had a portion of its price paid to the recording industry on the outside chance that someone would be using that media to “illegally” record their zillion$ precious IP and use it in some other way than the industry wanted it used.
So you’re paying them no matter what you do.
In the words of Jacov Smirnoff, “Whut a country!”
They did try that but the court struck it down.
I don't think there is any path forward for the record industry. I think they are going out of business no matter what they do. I think they know this and I think this is why they act as if don't care if they piss off their customers. From now on every compromise they make and every court case they lose takes they one step closer to oblivion.
Oh sure there is. They could realize that the new digital technology will let them drastically reduce their mfg. and production costs and sell their products online, accessible with a few clicks and a credit card.
Oh, wait, there are a bunch of people doing that already and none of them are the record companies. And the record companies still don't have a clue, yet... nevermind! [grin]
"Nature gave man two ends - one to sit on and one to think with. Ever since then, man's success or failure has been dependent on the one he used most."
--George R. Kirkpatrick (1867-1937)
The real issue, I think is that the record companies already get all the revenue they are going to get. Better enforcement of copy right laws cannot extract more money out of, mostly teenagers, who just don't have the funds to pay it. The result may be less music for the total take. It won't be more money.
I think in the future musicians will make their living from live performances - like they did before the record industry came along. The record industry only came into existence because limitations in recording technology made it expensive to produce, distribute, and promote recordings. Now that those limitations are gone there is no longer a need for a record industry.
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