FARK.com: (74836) RIAA releases crappy music then blames piracy when it sells badly

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		RIAA releases crappy music then blames piracy when it sells badly (msnbc.com)		76
		More: Obvious

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5955 clicks; posted to Main » on 22 Nov 2001 at 10:08 AM | Favorite | share:

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Cormee		2001-11-22 10:11:34 AM

riaa = mick jagger?!?!?!

icenine		2001-11-22 10:17:51 AM

Who stole the soul?

BenJammin		2001-11-22 10:23:58 AM

Why do CDs cost more than cassettes? It's not the 1980s.

playa hatah		2001-11-22 10:32:52 AM

Jesus, these guys may as well invest in cd-r stocks. It's their only hope. (besides releasing some good music, which doesn't look probable)

cowboymike		2001-11-22 10:48:58 AM

link is farked(?) 500error... wtf?

cowboymike		2001-11-22 10:50:25 AM

oh well it doesn't matter, whatever it says I'm still gonna hate the horsefarkers that are the RIAA.

FifthColumn		2001-11-22 10:52:14 AM

This makes about as much sense as Compaq's claim that their shiatty sales (which have been shiatty before their excuse in question) is due to the terrorist attacks.

labberdasher		2001-11-22 10:59:37 AM

I think they're right. People nowadays get to listen in on new mp3'd CDs (which is piracy, apparently), realise that they're crap, and don't buy them. Yup - It's all coming into focus.

Vendor on the corner: "Evenin' guv. Wanny buy some reely reely good music, dooya?"

Guv: "Oh ... I don't know. What is it then?"

Vendor: "Weow, 's this reely reely hot noo stuff yersee. Gotta have it!"

Guv: "Uh ... could I sort of - listen in on it then?"

Vendor: "Naaaah - why woudjoo wanna do that? ... Dontcha wanna 'ave the reely noo stuff in yer collection then? Get's all the birds yerno."

Guv: "Oh all right then. How much?"

Guv: "This. Is. Complete. And. Utter

NuckleheadEd		2001-11-22 11:01:45 AM

Actually, it's music analysts and retailers blaming "piracy" among other things, not the RIAA (which wasn't even mentioned) or the record label... As a matter of fact, the very first sentence of the article says: "When EMI reported steep first-half losses this week, the British music giant downplayed digital piracy as the source of its slumping sales." (emphasis mine)

However, it has occurred to me that releasing "good" music would not be the all-encompassing answer to slumping music sales that everyone seems to think. There's (obviously) a HUGE market for crap music out there. People buy pure garbage by the truckload. How many Britney/Aguilera/Furtado fans are suddenly gonna stop buying the flavor of the month and rush out to buy Zappa reissues? Pick a band you think is good. Is the average 14-to-20-year-old going to rush out and buy those albums simply because the music they're used to being spoonfed dries up and blows away? The answer is no, unless the record companies turn that band into the latest flavor of the month, at which point, they will have "sold out", immediately calling for derision from all "true" fans, and of course, then they won't be making "good" music anymore.

The moral? Listen to what you like. If you can't find anything you like, look harder. Don't use the radio as your source, use the net. Explore internet broadcasts of blues, world music, or whatever. Try them all. Pick what YOU like! Buy it when you can, to show your support. And let the rest pass you by like a turd floating down a stream. It's NOT a Baby Ruth... you don't HAVE to take a bite.

(wow, sorry for the encyclopedia. it really did start out as a short statement.)

labberdasher		2001-11-22 11:01:45 AM

bugger. Insert hot chick walks by, back home and fade where appropriate.

(I wanna preview. Sob.)

meshman		2001-11-22 11:01:56 AM

RIAA sucks. The good part is that file sharing isn't going away and neither are the angry customers forking $20 for a CD so J-Lo can have a 50 person buffet at her 20 min. appearances. Certainly an artist deserves to be compensated and there are advertising expenses but 80 Million dollars? I can think of a few hospitals that could use that money or a few homelss shelters that could use a 50 person buffet.

The recording industry is going to change whether they like it or not. Unfortunately they'll just keep wasting millions on frivilous lawsuits and finger pointing until they're bankrupt and a more appealing business model is introduced. They could spend those millions on a new, workable business model but it seems they prefer to prosecute. Knock yourselves out.

superiorstudio		2001-11-22 11:03:04 AM

To quote Jello Biafra again..

"But sales are slumping
And no one will say why
Could it be they put out
One too many LOUSY RECORDS?"

What a bunch of clueless bastards. They consolidate the music industry to the point where no matter where you go, you hear the same shiat on the radio and see the same shiat in stores. People figure out a way to promote their band on the internet for virtually no cost and while they may not make much money, they will probably still make more than they would ever make from signing with a major label, and get to keep their soul besides.

KingTT		2001-11-22 11:04:06 AM

...the growing popularity of CD-burning, video games and Napster clones threatens to accelerate the music industry's global sales slowdown...

Video games?
I can't believe they are blaming the success of video games for low music sales, that is sad

s_cary		2001-11-22 11:15:56 AM

Absoulutely. I have heard maybe two or three albums in the past six months that I deemed worthy of my $15 bucks. I don't want to deprive anyone of their rightful profit, but the current monopoly of the musical industry simply isn't working for me. Local radio couldn't be worse, MTV and it's like are a step below that, and I don't have access to internet radio on a consistant enough basis to find an outlet to new music. I guess at some point the recording industry as a whole decided that it was easier to control the media from start to finish as so to tell us what we want, instead of putting forth the effort to make an appealing product (ex: any formulaic boy band.) So now some consumers have a different avenue to music- one that the industry cannot control; and as to be expected they are losing profit. Cry me a farking river.

Flakeloaf		2001-11-22 11:16:48 AM

I dunno there King, everyone who owns a game system newer than the SNES has at least eight copies of Dragula.

Smokey McPott		2001-11-22 11:16:50 AM

They just dont understand that their music sucks. people dont want to hear crap

word superiorstudio... internet publishing is the way to go.

dogbone		2001-11-22 11:17:49 AM

I blame all of this on Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music.

dogbone		2001-11-22 11:18:19 AM

...and Chris Gaines.

dogbone		2001-11-22 11:18:57 AM

...and the terrorists...who've already won if I can't rip CD's, by the way.

SLAYERSWINE		2001-11-22 11:22:02 AM

I have never seen a better use of the "Obvious" tag.
I went to the SLAYER show last night in Chicago.
My back, neck and head feels like Hilary Rosen sat on my head and farted.
Killer show !!!!!!!!
I give thanks to God for my family,friends,FARK,being alive today,good music,The U.S.A. & The Chicago Bears.
Everyone here at FARK have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

akachibi		2001-11-22 11:29:25 AM

Labberdasher: Most sensible remarks I ahve read all day.

Slayerswine: You too.

This is what happens when there is a monopoloy, be it in the "music" industry or in operating systems. Ever wonder why nobody has come up with a free OS that will run Windows apps transparently?

Gratch		2001-11-22 11:30:29 AM

I found this amusing:

"...as major factors in its net loss of $77.6 million for the six months ended Sept. 30, compared with a loss of $44.3 million for the same period last year."

So basically they were losing a sh*tload of money last year, and now they're just losing more. How a company stays in business when they're consistently losing that much money is beyond me

Krik81		2001-11-22 11:31:51 AM

Awwwwwwwwww, the poor likkle music industry is now only making $5.9 BILLION instead of $6.2 BILLION!

Poor bastards.

TiberiumX		2001-11-22 11:33:26 AM

KingTT: Have you heard some of the game music today? It 0wns that crap that they are selling. For example: How many of you had that damned Hong Kong song from Deus Ex stuck in your head for days? Admit it!

fb-		2001-11-22 11:55:29 AM

Boycott the RIAA.

Zaq		2001-11-22 12:15:23 PM

Aggg, I submitted this yesterday. They changed the headline and didn't give me credit - Thanks Mods!

Jimmy Balls		2001-11-22 12:25:27 PM

boycott Fb-

KingTT		2001-11-22 12:28:07 PM

I had the Japanese Psycho Soldier song stuck in my head for 5 days

Fartypants		2001-11-22 12:57:31 PM

I don't know if this applies to any others here, but the music industry has seriously failed my tastes. The only reason I listen to the radio (read: radio1) is to hear the presenters. I usually switch between stations if music comes on. I don't want to hear the same shiatty songs over and over again day in, day out. The only place I can find music I really like to hear is on the internet - and that's when I hunt down the websites of obscure record labels.

It's useless for me to even go into a music shop, esp. when 99% of the music on sale is of some extremely polished, excessively tweaked and over produced mass marketed crap.

The music industry is getting it seriously wrong, they should be blaming themselves.

SuburbanCowboy		2001-11-22 01:01:49 PM

I think they should just lower the price of cds to 5 bucks. For me to shell out 20 bucks (HMV is charging $19.99 for some discs now) I really have to be certain I like it. I rarely buy cds now. I used to buy at least 10 a month. For 5 bucks, I would buy it if 2 songs were good, and not feel bad about it if the rest sucked. It isn't worth it for me to try and download all the tracks if I can buy it for 5 bucks. Less profit per unit sold, waaaaaaay mor units sold. Drive up volume.

Max Load		2001-11-22 01:02:41 PM

It goes to show you: Germans love David Hasslehoff!

meshman		2001-11-22 01:08:32 PM

fb- "Boycott the RIAA."

Oh my god! I agree with fb! The terrorists have won. But seriously, great idea. Load up a file sharing program simply out of spite and piss on the RIAA. They're complaining about slowing music sales? What will they think when nobody cares? There's no greater power than the will of the people.

meshman		2001-11-22 01:09:41 PM

...unless you're a med-mj patient in the US. :)

AngelTwo-Six		2001-11-22 01:46:44 PM

It really doesn't matter if you think it's crap music.

Honest.

The problem is that ALL of it is very overpriced.

The RIAA argument that they spend bazillions to market and produce CDs sounds _almost_ reasonable... At least until you see a Steppenwolf CD or an old Deep Purple CD selling for $16.00.

And who the frick do they spend the marketing money on? Simple-minded dancing clown groups. Not real groups, the ones who really have played together for years.

They use they money to market the poor sad bastards who auditioned to become part of the latest group of piss-artists. shiat music from a shiat industry.

Sorry, RIAA. Yerfuked in the head.

Leonard_Cohen		2001-11-22 02:25:06 PM

"Consumers' continued enthusiasm for digital music downloading and the increasing popularity of creating their own CDs with recording devices called CD burners are taking the fizz out of pop music sales."

I say old chap, thats what they call those infernal recording devices..
What the hell do these writers think they're writing for, senior citizens newsletters?

Quadraton		2001-11-22 02:41:49 PM

Haven't downloaded an MP3 in months, mainly for 2 reasons;

1) I have every MP3 from the past that I could ever want
2) The music that they've been releasing lately is pure crap! I won't even listen to it for free, what makes them think I'm going to pay for it?

Blah_		2001-11-22 02:51:59 PM

you make a very good point quadraton, 95% of the stuff out there is garbage atm.

Undertoad		2001-11-22 03:02:12 PM

Research firm Cambridge Associates is estimating that in North America there will be 1.2 billion CD-R units (compact disc recordables) sold in 2001, a 50 percent increase over 800 million units sold the prior year.

Gee, d'ya think some of that is due to the fact that they sell 'em in 50- and 100-paks now?

I personally have 150 blanks yet to use. I bought a spool and a friend of mine bought me a spool last xmas. So I have 25 CDs that I "produced" of which half are used for, like, DATA, and the other half are stuff I already owned, re-burned for car use. (That way I can toss 'em around the car without worry, it's great)

This whoe thing is really ticking me off. Other industries go out of their way to SERVE the customer. They install 800 numbers for customer comments, spend tons of money on market research, etc. just to find out what the customer WANTS. Here's an industry where they know what the customer wants and they're hell-bent on doing ANYTHING THEY CAN TO AVOID SERVING THE CUSTOMER. I won't mind paying for stuff, but A) I don't want to pay for it five times, and B) downloading is faster than driving to the goddamn Tower Records or waiting for Amazon or CD-Now deliveries. And by the way, the radio? DEAD DEAD DEAD. Now get with the FARKING program, RIAA, and GET ME MUSIC THE WAY I WANT IT. I'm the customer and the customer is always right so I'm farking right and I'm mad as hell and I just can't take it any more.

Arkle		2001-11-22 03:07:06 PM

Is it just me or is every one of these boy-bands missing a BASS voice? (...deep, deep, deep.) The 4 Tops, The Temptations...ever wondered why they SOUNDED great? The SOUL of the songs have gone.

These girls who over-sing the songs nowadays (we know you can sing, just don't take the note eeeennnddddleeesssllyy past the written bar, warbling up and down and off the note)...Britney (I'm sorry to single her out, but she's just a puppet)who can't sing (I tuned in the other night and saw they had spent a squillion dollars on her concert and she...well,you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear)...all these people have to lip-sync their concerts.

I could go on and on, as we all could with our personal complaints about the music. Did you know that the mafia at one time, owned every juke-box in the country...and that's who basically owns the music industry? They just change the faces in the CEO's postion. You're not talking about people who sniff out quality here; you're talking about people who sniff out money opportunities. Radio is about advertising...the same with television. And the music industry is about selling a product.

Nothing more, nothing less.

jaimeekae		2001-11-22 03:52:48 PM

Quadraton: you have every mp3 from the past you could ever want??? you either have a very limited music taste or a VERY large mp3 collection

Meshman, S_cary: good summing up of situation

PickleSandwich		2001-11-22 04:17:56 PM

I'm so glad that the music industry is dying a slow, painful death. Sites like mp3.com have opened the door for the whole world to check out "real" bands that make good music. Sure there's a lot of crap, but there are also plenty of groups that have poured their heart and soul into their music that actually have a chance at exposure. Although it's rough to make a profit as an independent musician unless you have both excellent music and godlike marketing skills (don't quit your day job), mp3.com, besonic, and similar sites have done much to increase the overall quality of music available to the tech-savvy and connected. Not only can you get great music for free, but you have the added adventure of discovering it for yourself rather than having it shoved down your gaping maw.

If all of the major record labels went under tomorrow, I'd miss maybe 1% of the material they would be putting out. Support good independent music rather than prepackaged corporate vomit and the music world will sort itself out.

Mask		2001-11-22 05:09:13 PM

KingIT: what theyre saying is that since everyone buys games now, that 50 bucks they just spent is 50 bucks they WONT spend on music. And, actually, theyre right. But what the greedy bastards need to realize is tyhat they arent farking microsoft. They are going to have to take a profit hit. thell make money, but not as much. Microsoft makes money because (like it or not) they make good, user friendly products. The RIAA is turning away from user friendkly, and they definately dont puit out good music

fb-		2001-11-22 05:36:49 PM

4495 albums, 52,357 tracks, 308 gigs of mp3's here

Goodfella		2001-11-22 05:41:24 PM

Hahahahahaha, the music industry & the RIAA have been scewing not just the consumers but also the artists for over the last 50 YEARS, so now when THEY are the ones getting screwed they dont like it. Its pretty amusing when the shoe is on the other foot, isnt it Mrs. Rosen?????

Fark the RIAA!!!!!!!!!!!!

LONG LIVE P2P!!!!!!!!!

GregoryD		2001-11-22 05:46:19 PM

Oh yeah, video games don't get pirated either right? Shnell! Shnell! Danke! God bless Razar 1911. I still plan to buy it, I promise!

fb-		2001-11-22 05:55:52 PM

All the more reason to download them if you asked me.

dcho		2001-11-22 05:59:04 PM

I found this funny:

"There's no question that digital distribution is having an impact," said Phil Leigh, digital music analyst with Raymond James and Associates.

Yeah, really unbiased opinion. Is a "digital music analyst" going to tell anyone that digital music isn't having an impact on the industry?

zkm		2001-11-22 06:15:54 PM

Since I have mp3s on my computer I'm causing the world market to crash? Yes!!!

Bwahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!

dahaka		2001-11-22 06:36:32 PM

TiberiumX: I still have that song stuck in my head. I'm playing Deus Ex again, actually... such a great game!
I actually bought Deus Ex, by the way. I pirate games and if they turn out to be good I will buy them. Seems like a good concept to me. It is nice to be able to do the same with music as well. I have yet to find a CD from America worth buying, though. yay

9/10		2001-11-22 06:41:12 PM

The best line in the article - referring to Maria Carey:
EMI had signed the high-maintenance pop diva to an $80 million contract earlier this year . . .

Farking hilarious!! Nevertheless, she has nice b00bies.

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