RIAA and Kazaa

[ShooterJM]

Exactly. I'm not really sure why most established artists sign contracts with the companies after their initial contract is up. For under $20k you could set up a studio in your freakin basement that is equal to anything outthere. If you had any business sense you could easily distribute your own music and CD's. You could undercut the larger companies by a large amount and still be making more money then you were before.

[Automaggin2]

Originally posted by AcemanPB
The funny thing is I read somewhere that CD sales have actually increased since Kazaa and Napster.

Yea, i read the same thing. I did a survey at my school for a term paper i was writing at school, and i found 80% of the kids who download songs off the internet also purchase the CD of the artist they download. Students also said that they download songs to see if they like any other songs on a CD before making a purchase.

[bluefan101]

Personal private studios are easy to establish, but take a while to get noticed. Rising stars sign because they see the money, cars and houses that other artists have. Meanwhile, small record labels, though slow to start out, end up making lots of money that they don't have to shell out to the big record companies at the end of the day. Take a look at how many "big" artists hit rock bottom when they go out of style.

[ShooterJM]

Originally posted by Automaggin2
Students also said that they download songs to see if they like any other songs on a CD before making a purchase.

Yeah, well who hasn't bought a CD only to realize that the reason there is only one song on the radio is the rest suck. Another $22 bucks down the drain....

[bluefan101]

Exactly. Then you take in to consideration how many of them were actually being honest?! Asking a kid if he/she buys a cd after downloading it, is like asking one if they tried a friends pot, would they buy their own?! Both are "illegal" and carry around the same social stigma.

[WicKeD_WaYz]

ive got like 7500 songs and such on my comp. lol i have been dling songs for like 5 years now probably.

ya let one of those RIAA people come to my house to search my computer or something. See if I let them in.

lol if i got a thing in the mail saying i was being sued, I would just delete my stuff and reinstall windows and play stupid.

uhhh...whats kazaa

[einhander619]

I think that the record industry's problems lie not in music sharing, but in the type of music they present and how they do it. The RIAA is trying to cling to an obsolete system, and has enslaved the court systems of the US to help them. Take any top 40 radio station for example. First of all, that number "40" is misleading because we all know that you only hear about 15 songs all day, if that. Now look at those 15 songs, they represent maybe two or three genres of music, typically rap/R&B, generic dime-a-dozen alt-rock, and crappy pop-punk. At the same time, it's even harder for small groups and acts to break in. People know that there are other types of music out there, and if the radio will not expose them to it, they WILL seek alternative means. Off the radio, popular bands have sent their live show ticket prices off the chart. Now you're looking at $60+ for Dave Matthews Band tickets! This in turn makes the business of selling and trading bootleg albums that much more lucrative. My friend made close to a grand by selling a particularly good Dave show to people at my college.

Like a good deal of people, I've grown rather tired of fiddy-cent and sum 41, and have ventured into the jungle that is independent rock and underground hip hop. I've never looked back. I'm lucky enough to live in a town that gets nearly every tour every band and group that matters, and one that has killer record stores to boot. Yes, I do buy the CD if I like it. As for the RIAA's new practice of suing everything that moves, they will make their own bed, and they will have to sleep in it. I am optimistic, I think that we are on the threshold of something really big, because the big labels are gonna fall on their face, and there's a whole lotta cool music waiting to take Linkin Park and Beyonce's place.

[shartley]

Originally posted by WicKeD_WaYz
ive got like 7500 songs and such on my comp. lol i have been dling songs for like 5 years now probably.

ya let one of those RIAA people come to my house to search my computer or something. See if I let them in.

lol if i got a thing in the mail saying i was being sued, I would just delete my stuff and reinstall windows and play stupid.

uhhh...whats kazaa

I would suggest doing more than that though..... because that does not cover up anything. They can still tell you had the files on your system.

[ShooterJM]

Yeah, just have a fire going at all times you can throw your drive in.....

[bluefan101]

Just to be clear, the term Top 40 is a general reference term used by Billboard music to describe it's top picks. Top picks are determined by factors including air play and album/single sales. Top 40 also covers all types of radio music from country and bluegrass to pop and hip hop to rock, metal classical etc... The only stuff not covered in the Top 40 arena are the smaller groups, like you mentioned...the underground.

Since the creation of radio everything musically has centered on the functionality of big record companies to keep and maintain order. Digital transfers of songs break that order and force the companies to react. Evolution is in progress here and those artists and companies not fit to survive in the changing environment will become extinct. It's just that simple..

By the way I'm on Kazaa right now...approx 4.3 million users online?? That's a lot of lawsuits and a lot of artists' money waisted. I'm sure they'd much rather have their money for a couple of bottles of Kristal, rather than trying to sue Bubba out of his tuition.

[WicKeD_WaYz]

Originally posted by shartley

I would suggest doing more than that though..... because that does not cover up anything. They can still tell you had the files on your system.

no way.

ok plan B. hide my laptop under my bed and say i dont have a computer

[hitech]

Originally posted by Lopy-slopy
But it's become so mainstreem that it is almost imposible to stop. They can't shut down Kazza cuz it's not eligal. It's just a program that lets people share files.

That is what Napster thought. They were shut down. They can do it.

[einhander619]

Cool, I was using the term Top 40 to describe any station that simply plays whats "hot" and has no genre loyalty. And yes, the record companies will have spent all their money in court and won't have the capital to move their technology forward. Another thing I forgot to mention, I recently bought a couple CDs, and they were 18 bucks each. That, my friends, is highway robbery. And it's not like these were big name bands, either! I think it's important to support my favorite artists, but even I have my limits.

[hitech]

Originally posted by MantisMag
kazaa and morpheus have been cleared by the courts. because they can share any file they have a lot of legitimate uses.

Do you have a link to that ruling?

[bluefan101]

He's right. Kazaa and Morpheus won their suit against the RIAA. The RIAA is appealing the decision, but is turning its attention away from file sharing developers. Its one of those, "guns don't kill people, people kill people" types of situations. Kazaa used the claim that it has no control over how their system is used, and cites that is used to "share information."