The Scene

MusicDetour.com’s commentary on music, performances, and the DC metro area music scene

From time to time I would like to use this space to theorize about the music industry. It would be great to get feedback from people interested in these ideas. This one is specifically trying to describe what P2P networks are. Leave your comments if you have anything to add.

In its infancy, the internet was nothing more than a few people with computers connected over some servers that allowed those people to gather information easier. Many of those first users (more…)

It’s about time that someone finally addressed the constitutionality of the RIAA’s lawsuits. While it has been about a year since the RIAA quit pursuing individual file-sharers and successfully began pressuring internet service providers to end file-sharers’ internet service, but there are plenty of cases still in the courts. Part of the problem has been the willingness of those sued to “settle” for a couple thousand dollars instead of paying the 6-7 figures that juries have been rewarding the RIAA or spend the money that it takes to appeal (and possibly lose). That is until now, Jammie Thomas-Rasset was told that she had to pay 1.5million dollars for sharing 24 songs, the judge then lowered the amount that the jury rewarded the RIAA to $54k (because the judge that 1.5million was ridiculous and 54k was still harsh). (more…)

It’s again “official” that file-sharers spend more money on music than people that do not file-share. The act of “illegally” downloading music does not preclude the purchase of music and in fact demonstrates the opposite. I’m not positive about the originality of the information found in the poll by Ipsos Mori, but it is another piece of evidence that suggests the ineptitude that music industry trade associations demonstrate by attacking their clientele. People who download music on file-sharing programs are also more likely to purchase music . . . okay, we’ve known that for a while. Something to add to that, regardless of whether they purchase more music, is the fact that people who listen to recorded music are more likely to go to a live show. They are more likely to participate in the culture around their favorite groups. They are more likely to spend more money on things music related. It is the people that are indifferent to music that the music industry should be trying to court and notice my use of the word “court”. The music industry should be cognizant of its actions against music consumers, they need to be careful of “biting the hand that feeds” them.

There is a lot at stake with the development of digital music and the ability to download it over the internet. One of the biggest confusions occurs when the Recording Industry Association of America discusses file-sharing as something that will end recorded music as we know it. If you listen to the RIAA, you are liable to believe that there will no longer be recorded music if file-sharers keep “pirating” music, but this is not close to the truth. Yes, major record labels could lose their dominance in the market place, but does that mean that music is dead? The RIAA has been claiming that the disintermediation provided by the internet will lead to the decline and ultimately the failure of the recording industry. The decline of the recording industry, however, is not the end of music. While the recording industry cannot exist without music, music can exist without the recording industry (even the music industry can exist without the recording industry).

Here’s a broad overview of how the “recording industry” has developed in the United States. (more…)

Previously, I mentioned that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) won its first lawsuit against people sharing music via the internet. As long as there has been copyright legislation, there has been “piracy” – I’m sure that someone was bootlegging copies of Beethoven’s symphonies. However, no one had before been charged for pirating something where they were in turn not profiting from its sale. Sharing music online is not the same thing as selling illegally reproduced music. Furthermore, all of this is being done in the name of the musicians – the RIAA argues that when people download music on file-sharing programs, they are stealing from musicians. But where is the money going from the RIAA’s litigation? Typically the money from lawsuits (not just about file-sharing) goes back to the RIAA and the major record labels. What follows is a brief explanation of why the RIAA and the major record labels are more exploitative of musicians than file-sharers. Future blog posts will further elucidate the erroneous nature of the music industry’s arguments about file-sharing. (more…)

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has been filing lawsuits against “pirates” (aka music file-sharers) since 2003, but few people have tried to fight them. They sue users for an absurd amount of money for each song that they upload and these people usually have uploaded songs in the 1000s. In fact no case has gone to trial . . . until now. A jury of your “peers” found Jammie Thomas-Rasset guilty of willfully violating copyright law – cost: $1.92 million! You read that right, $1,920,000 or $80,000 per song and they convicted her of sharing 24 songs. (more…)

For years, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has been suing people for sharing files. One of the main problems is that the RIAA has never been remotely transparent about who they are suing. Now I’m no legal scholar, but it occurred to me two years ago that this seems to violate the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Unfortunately, the RIAA’s tactics for suing file-sharers have been so egregious that no one has had the financial power to fight their lawsuits. They sue for as much as thousands of dollars per song with total lawsuits in the frequently in the millions. If the plaintiff wants to fight the lawsuit, the RIAA’s lawyers make it clear that it is going to cost more to fight than they have in assets. Then, plaintiffs are usually given the option to settle for the amount of their total life savings. This is certainly a criminal action by the RIAA, but no one has had the courage to fight back until now. Enter Joel Tenenbaum. (more…)