The Alphabet Goons can suck it, Part 1.
Who are the alphabet goons? Here's a hint: they strike fear in the hearts of music pirates, makers of bootleg DVD's of movies still out in theaters, and...musicians? Guess which one doesn't belong.
This was going to be just one article, but I got on a roll and decided to break it down and dedicate an article to each legion of fascists. The RIAA, MPAA, and MPA are the alphabet goons, and here's a breakdown of music industry gestapo:
Acronym: RIAA
Stands for: Recording Industry Asshole Association
Mission: Currently on a crusade to sue 12-year-olds and grandmothers for distributing mp3's, these assholes represent the music industry and their defunct business model. Nevermind that they didn't care when people were recording songs off the radio onto tapes and playing the tapes in their cars, these self-righteous bastards scour the p2p networks constantly, track down IP numbers, subpoena ISP's to provide them with the identity behind the IP, and file lawsuits against anyone from college students to drugged-out hippies. Next on their agenda is convincing local law enforcement agencies to search car CD players for burned CD's of songs that people shouldn't have.
Business model: Sell CD's through inefficient distribution networks for 15-20 a pop while artists receive anywhere from one dollar for "rookie contracts" to 3 dollars for Mariah Carey type deals. Recording industry has been caught numerous times by the Justice Dept. for price fixing through their suggested retail price scheme.
Downfall: Started off with leech FTP sites and college dorm networks in the mid 90's and has exploded into numerous P2P platforms where people swap music files with ease.
What they should do: Besides lick my nuts…well nothing. None of the big 5 care to modify their business models to maximize revenue, and only the music industry would take steps to piss off their customers by being sue-crazy. What I would do, if in charge of a major recording label, is try to trim down the supply chain in order to optimize profit or refocus energies on concert promotions and merchandise. CD's should still be sold, as any decent bass player can point out the degradation that occurs when compressing a song from standard wave format to mp3 format. Another good idea would be to flat-out sell high quality mp3's (without degradation if at all possible) that can then be used anywhere as opposed to current market solutions that offer limited flexibility. Better than no money at all, eh?
What you should do: I don't condone illegal activity, but until somebody sees the light, and if you're not afraid of the possibility of being sued, download away. If you want to support the artist, which you should if you're not a greedy asshole, buy the merchandise, go see a show, or burn a CD for a friend and turn them into a fan, much like I have done with Paranoid Social Club for all of my x-girlfriends. Man, what was I thinking?
Back to find another rant about an acronym composed of fascists...