Recording Industry Extinction Predicted RSN 493
nautical9 writes "There's an interesting commentary from Wired's Charles Mann, speaking of the imminent death of the recording industry as we know it. Nothing really ground-breaking here, but it is a good summary and somewhat fair treatment of the RIAA's current state-of-affairs, and offers a little insight into what the world of music may be like without them (hint: perhaps better off)."
And in Other RIAA News (Score:2, Informative)
Washington Post Story [washingtonpost.com]
An Economic Analysis (Score:3, Informative)
How The Internet Will Make The Record Labels Evaporate [std.com]
Re:I think we've known this for a while.. (Score:5, Informative)
Interesting idea. How about a DVD and a (Red Book) CD sold together? The DVD has all the audio tracks, plus the bouncing titties videos, plus the "making of" the bouncing titties videos. The CD just has the music so that you can play it in your car, or if (gasp) you haven't got a DVD player (yet).
Seems to me that you've got a good point there. Much of the cost of selling an audio CD is in making the singles videos to promote it. It's strange that the music business hasn't thought about trying to sell them as content.
Re:Hilary Rosen is obviously psychic... (Score:5, Informative)
First-record deals are notoriously BAD for the artist. If the first turns out to be successful, they then try to renegotiate the contract for more money. The record companies are neatly sidestepping this process by simply abandoning the band after one (or maybe two) successes and finding a soundalike clone and publishing THEIR music under another bad-first-record deal.
That's not what they are saying (Score:3, Informative)
I actually got a CD this summer when I couldn't find it on the depleted campus LAN.
Re:Quote... (Score:5, Informative)
Do you live in Canada? If you are in the united states, only "Music" CD-Rs are taxed. "Data" CD-Rs are not, even though you can record music to a data CD-R and play it back on anything. The only difference between the two is that the Music CD-R costs more and it can be burned by special, expensive stereo components, which in turn cost more then whole computers with burners.
In other words, for all practical purposes there are not levies on data storage systems in the US (CDs, memory sticks, DVDs, etc) only on audio systems (audio tape, DAT, crippled CDs for component recording).
Re:Paying customers? (Score:2, Informative)
Granted, it wasn't the cartel-busting move that many hoped for, and indeed the actual $ amount is trivial, but still it's nice to see them lose.
Re: Quote... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:What do they do? (Score:2, Informative)
24-track digital multi-track recorder($3,500) ; 40-channel mixer/sound board($6,000) ; studio musicians ($???/hour) ; booth construction (ca. $10,000) ; sundries such as cables, media, beer, etc. ($1,000)
Ok, here's a solution to that which lists for less than $2K and which Sam Ash is selling for less than $1K [samash.com].
This is just to record. Now each artist has to remaster their own music (a very technically difficult job for which people study years).
The same device I linked to will create a legal Red Book Audio master you can take to a pressing plant to get pressed CDs made for it.
Then they have to shop around for a place to stamp CDs for them.
I'm in Los Angeles, this is child's play [rainborecords.com]. This is only one example of places which will produce industry-quality CDs for $1,100 per thousand, with quantity discounts and repeat order discounts likely. And these places will do business with you over the Internet even if you live in West Bumblefsck, RFD.
They ask for CMYK artwork already transferred to film masters. This means finding some guy with Photoshop and a Service Bureau. Again, child's play in LA and most big cities.
All you add is talent...something which is not trivial, true, but if you have it, you have it.
The fact is that artists as renowned as Prince have been able to make far more money selling their music online than they have working on the Record Industry Plantation. The Do It Yourself spirit is alive and well, you just have to dig [kxlu.com] a little [kexp.org].
You don't have to be Kreskin to predict that the Music Industry's dying. It's not a bad thing, though. I look forward to dancing on its grave.
Just to put it simply (Score:3, Informative)
or that he had died
Pure & simple...the lion goes too quietly and too soon. They will be back with their lawsuits and their outdated methods. Only this time they will have the Industry behind them with machines built encoded with DRM tech. Inherent to the machine at the lowest levels, there will be no way to run your own system without authorization from all of the MFR's and in turn the RIAA, MPAA, and the KMAAYLC (Kiss my ass association you lousy consumer!).
Time to pick up a guitar and make my own...Re:Hmm... (Score:3, Informative)
I don't think that most bands realy make money from sales anyways, the lables make sure that overhead expenses eat up most of the profits. What we hear now is the stuff that's almost guarenteed to be popular or the cookie-cutter crap that we hear. I heard about a band that sold a quarter of a million albums and ended up oweing the record company $28,000.00 in promotional expenses.
emusic not mentioned (Score:1, Informative)
www.emusic.com
For a reasonable monthly fee, you can download all the mp3s you want.
No weird player required, no limited plays, just mp3s.
The catalogue is surprisingly good.
It's a shame this service is almost never mentioned in any articles on file sharing.
I subscribe to them for the tunes, and also to sooth my guilty conscience.
Although I'm an anonymous coward, I don't work for them. Honest!
Re:Why is this news (Score:2, Informative)
giving RIAA the bird (Score:3, Informative)