Tough going for Big Music workers
p2pnet news | RIAA News:- Are we being too hard on the multi-billion-dollar corporate music copyright cartel?
It’s accused of getting rich while its members persecute their customers, and a new Expert Witness Defense Fund has just been set up by the Free Software Foundation specifically to help victims of Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG’s sick sue ‘em all campaign, fronted by their (Recording Industry Association of America).
But, “I’m really sad to see that some people still believe that we in the music industry are ‘fat cats’ and that it’s [a] multi-billion-dollar cartel,” says a p2pnet Reader’s Write under our The Pirate Bay wins global award story, going on >>>
It’s far from the truth.
I’m managing the creative department at one the biggest companies in our territory and I actually make below minimum wage, I could make the same money working for McDonalds. But I still keep working here since I love music!
A lot of my friends has lost their jobs in the last few years, last week another big company were shut down because they couldn’t afford to keep going. All employees in five countries were laid off.
It really hurts me when people think we are just sitting around doing nothing besides counting money. We’re working really hard to bring music to all of you guys! We’re working 16 hour days many days of the week nowadays.
We have to since we can no longer afford to keep all the employees we would need.
There’s a culture in the music business to pretend that all is well, that sales are still what they were in the 80’s. But this is not true, most of the old guys don’t even work in the industry anymore.
We’re mostly young people working really, really hard to bring music to the world but sadly you guys don’t seem to appreciate it anymore.
At least you don’t seem to think that we too should have the right to feed our families.
Is he/she correct?
Also See:
Expert Witness Defense Fund – Thanksgiving â and the RIAA, November 21, 2007
almost $70 million – Sony: fined for priced fixing, November 22, 2007
Associated Press – Sony Ordered to Pay $5M in Logo Dispute, November 22, 2007
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November 23rd, 2007 at 7:30 am
I am sorry, but I DO believe that although there are hard workers in the industry mentioned above…I simply do not agree that he speaks for the “upper tier” of people that we talk so much about.
Those are the decision makers we talk about and how they control the sometimes very stupid policies that the industry has in place. But yet, they do not want to come around to anybody’s thinking but their own. Technology has changed entertainment industry….it is the consumer who is now in control….either get used to it or get run over. Crying over piracy and then touting how much money they made in the past year makes the entertainment industry look like it is two faced!
And really, if that guy is not happy with his job, why NOT work at McDonalds? Sounds like he may even make more money than what the industry is paying him.
But either way….it is HIS CHOICE to work there….. he says that plainly….so you would think he would either tell them to take a hike and find another job or accept what he has! Because even IF the industry was like it was years ago…….I doubt that this guy would see much in the way of his job paying better. I simply do not believe that with the corporate greed the industry has, that this guys life would be much easier. It has always been that way and will probably always be.
Also don’t forget about him wanting to work for an industry that pays him peanuts and has already sued dead people and 14 year olds. If he cannot see that side of it, I don’t know what to say.
It is not the workers that give the industry a bad name….it is the elites that are in charge of the big 4 music and the movie studios…. and the way they run things. They would rather sue than innovate…and to me there is absolutely no excuse for that! The music industry had a chance with Napster and lost it…the movie industry had a chance with Bit Torrent to make decent, affordable downloads and they lost it. Now both are playing catch up. Too little, too late though.
This reminds me of that stupid commercial for the MPAA before they started suing everyone that they showed in theaters before the movie started comming from a stage hands view and how piracy hurt them. Understand this was shown to PAYING customers that had to sit through that….not pirates. But yet, hollywood talks about record breaking numbers for blockbuster hits and how sales have went through the roof….so it seems as though they are talking from both sides of their mouth.
What they did not mention, was the corporate greed that controlled that industry and kept their workers at that salary! And you cannot say that the movie and music industry both have NOT made a TON of money….because they have. But any industry you pick has different tiers….with the people at the top making the most money.
Again, if anyone believes that hollywood is fair to it’s employees in the first place….maybe they ought to take a look at the current writers strike. If they believe that the music industry is fair, look at all the lawsuits going on.
Until hollywood and the music industry come up with products and pricing and a distribution model people think is fair …..that both they and the consumer can agree on, things are going to say this way. That is just the way it is.
November 23rd, 2007 at 8:46 am
If you are working for the Cartels and are not happy with your job, it is in your interest to reboot your life and leave the sinking ship before it goes under water (and it will – “The Piracy is a better choice” (TM)).
There were previous inventions that changed the industry, but this time, the Cartels contributed to raising a whole new generation that hates the Cartels and does not want to buy anything related to the Big 4. So, if radical changes are coupled with losing customers permanently, the Cartels will lose the war.
November 23rd, 2007 at 8:49 am
I am staying away from blurays, hddvds, ipods and the like – because you, Cartels, made them crippled and anti-consumer. It takes more time to find a device I want, but I do spend that time and make sure that the mp3 player I buy can also work as a flash drive in any OS and I can move files in EITHER direction, etc. And instead of your blurays, hddvds I will use XviD HD and similar formats exclusively.
http://www.ukimagehost.com/uploads/c9634b2c34.jpg
November 23rd, 2007 at 8:57 am
The music industry pushed the cd to die just like the 8 track tape. It lasts too well. In the days of vinyl, you bought a new replacement every so often to maintain the pristine sound. Taking very good care of vinyl helped but it doesn’t withstand the pressure of a diamond bouncing through the grooves forever. Those were the heydays.
When was the last time you heard of people waiting all night in front of a record store to get the first copy of a new album? It almost doesn’t exist any more, neither the record store nor the fan base. What used to be a common event is now when it occurs news worthy by its rarity. Why?
Used to be that the labels took an active interest in their artists. They groomed them for long term success when they had a good group. It was protection for the future by keeping the artists a hot commodity.
In the pinch to save money, that was dropped, along with nearly ½ of the artists. They now instead of wanting to groom an artist for the long term, to cherry pick the smaller labels for the very best. To say it the best way, those in charge no longer are interested in earning the money, they would rather have it handed to them and if that doesn’t happen then they want to sue.
For over a generation I have watched the lables go from rolling in dough to claiming they no longer do. At the same time whenever the stockholders get their report it’s all rosy, every time.
Not to long ago another made the comment that stuck with me about $1500 lunches. I am sure at the bottom levels this doesn’t occur. At the top it does. $1500 would go a long way towards paying the monthly salary of one such employee. Typical of all corporations today loyality isn’t worth paying for, body presence is. So yes, all the old guys are gone. They expected to make a living while the younger folks would settle for less, expecting that once the foot was in the door that they would eventually work there way up. That’s not the way it works anymore. For the corporation it amounts to paid slavery that is sought for employee position. You get one employee to do the work of five and demean him when he can’t get it all done.
The labels have garnered the ill will of their customer base for a generation and have shown just what they are about. The customer has learned where he rates in the scheme of things. I will tell you now, I have little respect for the entertainment industry and even less for the music industry. It needs to be burned to the ground in hopes the phenoix that arises might have a little better understanding of customer relations and what meeting customer expectations is all about.
November 23rd, 2007 at 9:02 am
Industry is dying, a good thing for music and freedom. A new industry will rise (unless the old one adapts to the world) that will be successfull until demand or ways changes.
And so the cycle goes on, industry and companies adapting to the world and its people, just like it has always done until COPYRIGHT (or more its incompatability with digital age) that force the people to adapt to industry and not the other way around as it should be.
If you look historicly, no company has ever forced the world to adapt to it, the world has adapted to the company freely or the company adapted to the world.
The music/movie industry are the first to try and force old ways onto the world, witch clearly do not want it.
People have forgotten that companies/industries adapt to the world, people are changing their ways and instead of adapting they are forcing the old ways, making world population break laws and be policed to substain a dinosaur industry that admitted it did not adapt to the world in time.
Copyright laws were made to enforce products not to be copied and resold, they were not made for the digital age, where one copies files with a click on teh mouse. they were not made for something you cannot toutch, they were not made to prevent sharing stuff you bought with your friends, they were not made to make pruducts you sell be your property! they were made to prevent others from copying your telegraph and stealing your creation and profits.
Intellectual property “laws” needs to be removed, they were created by companies and not the people!
Copyright laws need to be adapted to digital age. Media is a usage product and should not have 100 year copyright etc. A fair copyright would be 3 years for movies, 1 year for music.
Something like that must happen, the world is not the slow place it used to be when Copyright laws were made, for more progress shorter times should be implemented and intellectual property removed.
They hinder progress, were made by the companies (NOT the people) and they are obsticles for creatism and alot of other things witch im sure you guys know the words for.
Excuse my spelling
Happy sharing!
November 23rd, 2007 at 10:48 am
I’m sorry that you are making below minimum wage in the industry you are working in now. Since you love music, maybe you need to find a job in another industry and spend your hobby time producing and distributing music. I am willing to guarantee that you will have a more original product. In fact the product that you produce in your home will be yours, and you can use it to advertise yourself or a friend’s business. If people like your product, they will either buy it or come to see you perform. If you are not a performer, try hooking up with a garage band that produces great music. Produce good music, distribute it for free on Lime Wire, and add a link to your website. If the product is good, you will make money. Working for a big corporation is akin to slavery.
You and your industry are being outsourced just like workers in many other industries. The good part of this is the fact that it is also affecting the fat cats in the industry. Other industries decided to ship jobs to slave labor states where they can pay wages that are below market rates. Customers of of the entertainment cartels have been screwed by high prices for many years by playing the cartel’s game. In this game, the rules are stacked against the customers as well as the employees. Entertainment industry customers decided that they no longer want to play the cartel game, so they invented their own. The cartels now must now learn to play be the customers’ rules.
To tell you the truth, I AM HAPPY to see the corporate entertainment cartel collapse. For far too long, their “product” has polluted cultures around the world. Like another poster stated above, it is the fat cats in any industry that makes the money, not the workers. If you want to get paid a decent amount of money for your work, you have to own your own business or become self employed as well as be good enough at what you do in order to be able to demand a decent price for your work.
November 23rd, 2007 at 6:29 pm
I think you should be thinking about new ways of marketing and distributing music through new technologies, and stop whining and blaming people for making good use of it. After all, you’re in charge of the creavite department.
Unless you’re told by your bosses not to deviate from their current speech.
If you’re not another RIAA troll, you will be back with an interesting answer.
November 23rd, 2007 at 6:56 pm
work at macy d’s then fucker – if your corp didnt fuck u, you wouldnt be were u are right
now so dont cry in my ears. i hope you all die music is free like the air we breath was so is,
and will be so. if u whant to sell someting sell insurence everybody loves insurence.
me? i buy buy band that sells sound.
November 25th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
ignore the retards post above . If you pepper your speech with “A lot of my friends has lost their jobs ” instead of using “have lost their jobs” McD`s would tell you that “you hasn`t got the job”
November 25th, 2007 at 11:44 pm
Nice try with the sympathy card. Boo hoo! Work so hard, friends laid off, blah, blah, blah.
You don’t have my sympathy. In fact, I don’t even listen to music from the “big 4 cartels” anymore. I have not bought a CD in 5 years. Nor do I download music illegally. I just have no interest anymore.
I suggest you change careers and untether yourself from the music industry. All it does is screw everyone over…The workers, the artists and the consumers.