Rollingstone.com Article on digital piracy, small Prince mention

The Digital Beat

Playing the piracy card

Sign O the Single Age?

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has sounded another alarm about the threats of digital music. In a recent report, it declared that shipments of CDs slipped by about ten percent last year, which, according to Reuters, signals "the industry's worst slump in a decade." Though there are numerous possible explanations, the industry chose the most sensational and self-serving explanation: consumer piracy. The real problem is much more complex.
According to Hilary Rosen, president and CEO of the RIAA, "A large factor contributing to the decrease in overall shipments last year is online piracy and CD-burning. When twenty-three percent of surveyed music consumers say they are not buying more music because they are downloading or copying their music for free, we cannot ignore the impact on the marketplace." The study also found that ownership of CD burners, the devices that let you create your own music CDs, tripled since 1999 -- two out of five consumers now own the machines. The conclusion: Extrapolate the numbers and you can kiss the music business goodbye.

Is this the modern equivalent of Reefer Madness? Technological innovation has long caused the reactionaries to wig out. The player piano was supposed to kill the musicians; the printing press, the writers; TV, the movies. The most notorious example came twenty years ago when Jack Valenti, the president of the Motion Picture Association of America, rallied against the emerging video recording machines. In a statement to Congress, Valenti said, "The growing and dangerous intrusion of this new technology is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston Strangler is to the woman alone." The punch line: Home videos and rentals now bring in nearly twice as much money as box office sales.

Despite such historical evidence, the RIAA is failing to catch a clue. Instead of exploring intelligent ways to embrace the new digital marketplace, the music moguls are fighting an impossible fight. One such example is the use of anti-copying software such as Cactus, now embedded in over 10 million CDs worldwide. Try to rip a Cactus-enabled CD into an MP3 file and you won't get anything at all. Rather than find a more innovative solution to deal with the still minority portion of bootlegging masses, the industry has chosen to handcuff all consumers.

There is, of course, another problem the industry could be addressing: CDs cost too much. Twenty dollars is a lot to spend on a new album, especially for a typical one that, at best, contains only a few decent songs. Maybe the idea of requiring music fans to buy a package of songs (in the form of a tape or CD) is antiquated? {{{Maybe the Digital Age is ushering in the Single Age -- an era in which artists -- particularly prolific ones like Prince -- will be free to release songs as they're completed and fans will really get what they paid for. Pirates are not the problem. The problem is overpriced, uninspired CDs created by an industry that cares more about pushing units than compensating artists and cultivating lifelong fans.}}}

DAVID KUSHNER
(March 6, 2002)

©Copyright 2002 RollingStone.com

Amen to that....

Is Rolling Stone.Com any different than the newstand version? Will this article be featured in the magazine version? The one sporting the latest "uninspired" artist of the month.

hhhhhmmmmm

Nice that even rollingstone sees what the real problem is, but are they not owned by some of the same companies as the recordcompanies are?

Whatever there is a riot approaching. Soon as a consumer you won't have much of a choice no more. CD's are rapidly being protected from copying with 'ant-pricay software'.

The things RS failed to mention is that these technoligal prtection measures not only violate consumer's fair-use rights, but are at the same time themselves protected by law, making you a criminal if you try to circumvent the measure they put on your cd you bought for 20 bucks with only two decent songs on it.

One piece of advice:
Once you buy a new cd, check the cover really good for mentions of these protection measures. Advice two: don't buy the cd when it carries these measures... you'll be fucked with even more than you already are.

Abrazo said:

okay sorry for all the typo's..

Whatever, there is a riot approaching. Soon, as a consumer, you won't have much of a choice no more. CD's are rapidly being protected from copying with 'anti-piracy software'.

The things RS failed to mention is that these technological protection measures not only violate consumer's fair-use rights, but are at the same time themselves protected by law, making you a criminal if you try to circumvent the measure they put on your cd you bought for 20 bucks with only two decent songs on it.

One piece of advice:
Once you buy a new cd, check the cover really good for mentions of these protection measures. Advice two: don't buy the cd when it carries these measures... you'll be fucked with even more than you already are

this sounds Familiar how many Funky Ass Cds have u bought this year that were Funky "All The Way Thru"?

Abrazo

concerningly said:

Yes Abrazo, but, you will have a choice...as a consumer, you don't have to buy it.

People will start looking at used record stores for used CD's...archives will be made...for the old stuff...that may incourage more bootlegs, piracy.

Plus...anything you hear over the speakers...can be recorded...anything.

We'll see how it all goes down.

Literally.

FlyingCloudPassenger said:

Like you say it will only lead to even more illegal behaviour. I'm afraid shit will go down bad and ultimately the record companies will be the loosers, fuck they already are. They just don't get it.

micorison requesting radio silence...
[This message was edited Fri May 3 14:01:07 PDT 2002 by micorison]

Piracy is not an issue.

Why there's piracy?? That's where the problem lie.