The Music Industry is Crying.

[Mad Slanted Powers]

If you want a prime example of where the money goes, find out what an independent record promoter is. These bozos are ex-program directors who are paid to get current program directors to play a certain single on the radio. There is a law against paying program directors (payola), so these guys are paid to simply get the record played, which usually involves clandestine sleaze. anyway, these bozos make up to $300,000 a year.

They are willing to pay money to get people to play the music, yet they are demanding more and more royalties from internet stations that will play the music for free. In fact, I am paying about $27.95 a month just to be able to broadcast on Live365.com. That's a pretty good deal compared to what I would have to go through to do it all myself, and I wouldn't be able to afford to pay all the royalties. Somafm.com had so shut down for a few months a few years ago when rates were going to go up. They were able to return when the rates didn't go up as high as originally planned. It would be a sad day if stations like that were silenced, because you just don't hear that music played on regular radio. We'd be going back to the old days where college stations were the only place you could hear underground music.

[Blue2th]

Reading these old threads, I can't believe my inability to punctuate properly just three or so years ago.







Good thing I learned how to use a compewter.

[JediTricks]

As if the music biz didn't already look like a bunch of idiots, now they're suing someone for making copies of albums he bought LEGALLY FOR PERSONAL USE!!!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...800693_pf.html

You have got to be kidding me! I am really doubting this violates the DCMA, if it does, then the DCMA needs to be struck down immediately and rewritten from the bolts up. This is a blatant abuse of individual rights, and reeks of a greedy corporate entity sinking under its own weight trying to wring every last penny out of its remaining customers through underhanded and questionable tactics. They can kiss my *** if they think I'm going to buy 1 more ****ing new album if I can't listen to it on the medium of my choosing.

[jjreason]

Horrible, horrible decision (to go after this guy). They're going way overboard in alienating customers just for a relatively small sum of money. I don't want my Christmas CDs anymore, someone rip them for me so I can take them back.

[Blue2th]

I don't get it. These guys are getting desperate now.
What's the difference between buying a CD and storing it on your computer so you can edit the song list (of crappy tunes) to download onto your Ipod, and going to ITunes and purchasing tunes then downloading them onto your Ipod.
You are still initially buying the tunes.
They are grabbing at straws now. I don't think they can win this one.
I'm suprised that BMI/Sony would endorse this way of thinking also.

These companies need to get a clue.
They are dying because of their lack of vision. They are not in it for the long haul anymore. Instead of nurturing good talent as Mr. DP alluded to in an earlier post they are in it for the flavor of the month.
Why don't they take some of their tax deductible money and re-invest it into providing money for cut school programs, and music classes.
Where do they think the musical talent is going to come from?

Kids aren't going to learn how to play guitar on a Sony Playstation Rockstar III.
But then again they will learn how to pose for the camera, and that's really what it's all about.

Why don't they take some of that money they have to do a leveraged buyout-takeover of some of these monopolized radio stations, to get different talent and variety on the airwaves. Instead of the regurgetated payola playlist they think we want to hear?

[El Chuxter]

Wow. Just wow.

All of these mega-conglomerates need to stop focusing on keeping their profits in the billions and be happy with just turning a profit. What, did they expect the guy to download songs he already had from iTunes at $1 each? Huh?

All they're getting is bad press. Given how badly they're doing as an industry, that can't be good.

What they need to do is drop the price of CDs, take a lower percentage of profits, ensure that kids wanting good classic music have more to choose from than just A Kind of Magic, and make their back-catalogs available for download.

It also doesn't help that nearly every CD released now is released in an expanded edition less than a year later. Hell, even the new Eagles album was expanded by two tracks in less than a month after the original release (with no prior information about this plan, of course) and sold for only $2 more. Do they expect us to go and re-buy them for a couple of songs? That's the same mentality that gave us decades of "Greatest Hits" albums with two new songs on them.

[2-1B]

Also they should be trying to do a better job with marketing and promoting concerts.

[Rocketboy]

When 98% of everything released is complete sh*t, and the remaining 2% goes ignored and ill-promoted, it is no surprise that the music industry is hurting.

[El Chuxter]

Somewhat on that topic, I get to hear more cool new pop music (meaning "good non-classical music," not "dispensable Britney Spears garbage") by listening to NPR. About once a week, I hear a news article or review of an album by some artist I've never heard of that makes me go, "Damn! I must get that!!" in a way I hardly ever say while listening to the interchangeable tripe of Clearchannel and Jack FM.

[Mad Slanted Powers]

When 98% of everything released is complete sh*t, and the remaining 2% goes ignored and ill-promoted, it is no surprise that the music industry is hurting.

It is that 2% non-carp stuff that will be hurt the most by their tactics. If the internet stations that play that stuff disappear, then it will be even harder to discover new music. I can hear the mainstream stuff all the time, so it will get plenty of exposure. Plus, those acts will have bigger tours and higher ticket prices and bring in plenty of money that way. Meanwhile, the obscure acts will play smaller venues and won't bring in as much money.

I have no problem with them going after illegal downloaders, at least the bigger offenders anyway. However, ripping a song from a CD you legally purchased so that you can listen on your computer or iPod is no different than when we made tapes of our LPs so that we could listen in our car. That is not stealing. However, threatening to prosecute you if you don't buy both the LP and the tape, or both the CD and the mp3, that is like extortion.