More RIAA terror tactics
p2p news / p2pnet: Using publicly (read taxpayer) funded police forces, at home and abroad, to search private premises and seize what they claim are “illegal” recordings being sold on the black market is nothing new to organisations such as the RIAA.
But what’s new (to me, anyway) is that they’re now raiding business who have the right and permission (implied or expressed) by the copyright owner, the artists, and sometimes even the labels themselves, to make and distribute these recordings.
I’m talking about so-called “mixes” or “mixtapes”, specifically by Hip-hop artists.
According to an editorial by Alan Berry in the International Herald Tribune, a record store owner in Indianapolis who has first-hand experience in these situations – this is exactly what the labels are doing.
“Record companies release hip-hop artists’ new songs as both finished products and separate musical and vocal tracks. These tracks are made available to DJ’s, who piece them together to create remixes. These mixes, distributed largely through retail stores, thus give fans the latest music available – and whet consumers’ appetite for official releases issued later.”
And most mixtapes include an endorsement, or “drop”, by the performer, giving a shout-out to the DJ. This is an official acknowledgement, endorsement, and thank you for the work the DJ has done.
Berry asks:
“Are we to really believe that the recording industry doesn’t want these mixes distributed to fans? Of course it does.”
Record companies know these tapes are a great promotional tool. Why else would they distribute the tracks to be mixed? Of course, it’s to help promote the song or album, which translates (they hope) into more money for the music cartels.
Berry is a victim of these terror tactics employed by the record cartels, having been charged with 13 felonies, spending a night in jail, and losing his business, presumably as a result of fines and/or legal costs. In the end (almost a year later), he pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor: “selling CD’s that did not conspicuously display the address of the manufacturer.”
As he explains, the labels distribute the tracks to be mixed and the artists endorse them. DJs and record stores, which make these mixtapes available to the public, have been proven to increase sales of the officially manufactured album.
Small record shops like Berry’s aren’t getting rich from these mixtapes, but hopefully get their fair commission when they sell the official CD as a result of someone who liked the mixtape.
“If the industry truly wanted to stop mixtapes, record companies should simply stop providing tracks to DJ’s. The industry knows, of course, exactly who’s making these tapes; the industry needs these tapes to be made. Why, then, are tax dollars being spent on arresting people who, by distributing mixes, are doing nothing but promoting upcoming hip-hop releases?”
Brad Buckles, an RIAA exec., counters with: "Retailers who are making money on the backs of musicians and record companies by selling pirated CD’s should know that this is absolutely no way to conduct a business."
Right, and the RIAA should know. Apparently, the correct way to conduct business is to bribe radio stations for more airplay for their inferior “product”. Until you get caught, that is.
As an aside, when I first read Berry’s editorial, it seemed to me that much of the same thing has been going on regarding p2p and video distribution. Specifically, I was thinking if the MPAA really wants to crack down on “illegal” sharing of films and videos, the first thing they should do is stop making and distributing “screeners”, either for theatre owners, industry insiders, or for Academy members to view for voting purposes. When a screener ends up in a filesharing network, who do they think put it there? It wasn’t a member of the general public. It’s always a member of the industry itself.
Independent studies, as well as ones conducted by the studios, have not proved that a file shared equals a lost ticket or DVD sale. In fact, studies show that DVD sales and box office receipts increase as a result of people first “sampling” a film or TV show at home before paying an extortionately high ticket price.
That is, if a film is good enough to actually pay to see it. The dismally low receipts, luke-warm reviews, and increase in the number of cams and telesines for “Mission Impossible III” available in p2p networks clearly show that the public won’t pay for inferior “product”. And any day soon there will surely be a screener of “M:I:III” filtering through all the filesharing networks. It’s inevitable.
The plight of small business owners like Berry who are subject to these abuses puts into perspective the power the cartels have in indoctrinating local and federal police forces – which are paid for by taxes – to do their dirty work. Simply, put, they have too much power.
Berry ends his editorial:
“Hip-hop prides itself on "keeping it real", but this is a surreal way to do business.”
Amen to dat.
catflap – p2pnet
May 16th, 2006 at 9:17 pm
… then they sliced the filesharers’ heads off, slowly, with a knife, while chanting “Sonny Bono is great!”….
January 27th, 2007 at 2:20 pm
I’m a DJ in Los Angeles and can’t tell youhow may times record exec’s. have asked me and others to put songs on mixtapes. They also want mixtapes from dj’s so that they can pass mix knowlege to the radio dj’s at the stations they bribe. Everyone from the street to the board room to the artist will tell a dj “do what you want”, with the record. It seems that the greedy record labels only want to bring into the fold every dollar being made and wait until a ceartin dollar amount and then briing charges. I’ll bet that some labe will offer he latest attacked duo a deal in order to drop the charges.
Watch,
ONE