Medialoper Takes A Look At The Brewing RIAA-NPR War

[DudeAsInCool]

There is no greater enemy of the music business than the music industry itself. Never before in the history of mass entertainment have we witnessed an industry who worked harder to destroy itself. Maybe once upon a time, music companies tried to expand their business and reach wider audiences, but those days ended long ago…and if the RIAA has its way, they’ll be gone for good.

Let us count some the major mistakes the industry has made in our lifetimes: cheering on ownership consolidation that squeezes out diversity on local radio; standing on the sidelines while the Internet revolutionized the way listeners access music…and then trying to close the barn door after the horse had galloped to the next continent; applauding the Copyright Royalty Board’s decision to raise royalty rates on Internet Radio.

In the past several weeks, we’ve seen the recording industry agree to pay penance for engaging in the age-old practice of payola. You know, where the companies pay to have their music played on the radio. Because, you know, radio is the greatest possible promotional device known to the industry. It leads to sales of music (unless you count those pesky souls who tape record songs off the radio). Of course, these same executives who authorize illegal payments are starting to realize a sad truth about radio: the music companies don’t really make money off the radio.

“But wait!” they say, sitting in their executive suites. “We have new technology. We can turn this to our advantage.” It’s quite simple, you see. Radio stations have traditionally paid royalties on the music they play; now, with this new ruling, traditional radio will continue to operate as it always has, but rate for Internet radio will increase substantially. And that increase will be retroactive. Ostensibly, this increase is designed to compensate the performers. In reality, a huge chunk o’change will be going to copyright owners. Often, the copyright owner is none other than the music label.

Can you see the happy dancing in the halls of the music industry?

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They've let out a few other major mistakes. Taking down Napster instead of adopting it. Overpriced records. DRM. Failure to adopt new technologies and platforms. Inability to create new business model.

The people who run the RIAA are losers who don't deserve to call themselves businessmen.