Part one was last Friday (just below) talking about why the RIAA's continued legal action against private citizens is ridiculous. According to a semi-succesful drummer who's never worked full-time in the industry but cares about it, here's what they should do.
CD prices need to PLUMMET. CDs are now an outdated medium and their price needs to reflect that. No one should EVER have to pay more than $15 for a CD, and if it's one disc with a two-page insert it shouldn't be over $10. CDs started their rise to popularity in 1985, and by 1993 they had overtaken tapes; this with everyone having to buy new equipement to play them! If MP3s move that much quicker, why hasn't the price of CDs dropped more? Because the industry is holding on to their money card instead of trying to develop a new one.
After CD prices go down, hopefully CD sales will stabilize and even climb a bit. Sure, the industry will still lose money, but at least people will be buying from the industry again instead of just file sharing. The assumption here is that people would rather buy in physical form rather than online, which isn't always the case; but even as a show of respect for the MP3 and a sign of deference to the customer, it helps.
Next, understand that "copyright" is not the same as "ownership". Copyright is meant to encourage the creation of new, original works while simultaniously affording some protection for the creators of said works. It is NOT meant to give you unending rights to everything you make forever. Once I bought my car from Ford, it's MINE. Once I bought my shirt from Old Navy, it's MINE. RIAA, please stop trying to tell me what I can do with something once it's mine.
OK, I am now off my high horse. Something funny about musicians or something on Friday, promise.
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1 comment:
ok so i'm way late in reading these two entries and you'll probably never read this comment... but, i'm gonna anyways!
Another thing the record execs should do is jump on the "itunes" bandwagon -- develop a portion of their site where customers can download their artists and perhaps offer some "perks" for buying from them -- everything from cost reduction, to tracks you can't get else where etc.
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