Record companies are in dire straits, record sales have dropped to an all-time low. In their struggle to survive the record companies put the blame on ‘illegal music downloads’ on the internet. In an attempt to stop online music sharing the record companies have joined forces in an organization called RIAA. The RIAA is an organization that tries to scare the shit out of people by prosecuting them for copyright violations or offer the possibility to settle out of court. Most people don’t want to go through all the legal hassle and settle. Are the record companies on the right track?

Now the RIAA has started to prosecute people who make copies for personal use of normally purchased CDs. The lawyers of the RIAA claim that creating MP3’s from a legally bought CD for the sole purpose of personal use is a violation of the license. If you want MP3’s of the music you bought on CD you will have to buy the MP3’s separately. Please note that the original CD is still in possession of the original buyer. I really feel that the RIAA is pushing the boundaries on this. The worst part is that they now start prosecuting people who actually paid for the music they listen to. What better way to drive people against you than doing something like that?

Copying music is from all times. It started way back when with the tape recorder. People created copies for friends and friends made copies for friends etc. The network in which the copies were spread was limited to a handful of people you actually know. Nowadays with the internet offering world-wide sharing the network of copies is not limited to only people you know. So maybe in that respect the record companies have a point. A single original record can be shared worldwide. Is this the reason people stop buying records from their favorite artists?

I don’t feel that file-sharing is the only (nor main) reason for the drop in record sales. I think there is a couple of reasons for the decline in the number of records sold nowadays. Here’s a list of reasons why I buy less music than I did, let’s say, 20 years ago.

1. Multiple releases. Why does an album get re-released after half a year with previously unreleased tracks on it? If you want me to buy a CD when it becomes available give me the full enchilada! Don’t piss me off by adding tracks on a later release. Yes, I bought the re-release once and the record companies think they get away with it. But they don’t: I don’t buy CD’s on the release date anymore. I just wait for re-releases or I’ll wait until the price has dropped to a reasonable level. See? You should not have tried to screw me, assholes!
2. All vinyl has been replaced by CD’s. I don’t know about you but I replaced all my vinyl records with CD’s. So in the early years I bought a lot of CD’s. Even although I had already paid for the right to listen to the vinyl record I had to repurchase the same right again for the CD. So I got screwed over by the record companies. They let me pay twice just because the music is now available on a new medium (CD). Now I have all my great records on CD. I only buy CD’s that I really like: Mark Knopfler, David Bowie, J.J. Cale, Alice Cooper, Joe Jackson and some more. This only accounts for a couple of CD’s per year.Which brings me to the next point:
3. In general: music nowadays sucks. Maybe some artist produces a reasonable song but in general the album sucks. I don’t want to buy albums just because I like one song on it. So in general: crank up the quality of the releases.
4. Copy protection scheme’s causes some CD’s to be unplayable in certain players. What is your only option when you own such a device that won’t play crippled CDs? Yes, you’ll have to obtain illegal copies to listen to the music you are willing to buy but doesn’t play on your audio system. What is the logic in that?
5. Put out albums worldwide on the same date. Don’t piss people off in certain parts of the world by just releasing an album for a particular region of the world. Don’t get mad at me for my eagerness to get new music, instead provide me the new music. Why should I wait a couple of months before a new release is finally available in Europe?
   I do have to say that the policy applied by record companies is nowadays a worldwide release. They learned from that mistake.

This does not apply to music releases only. There is also a couple of things about DVD releases that really piss me off:

1. Remove the irritating copyright notice when you load a DVD. The notice can’t be skipped. Don’t bother people who paid for the DVD with irritating stuff like that. This really pisses me off!
2. Do not irritate me by automatically play trailers (after the initial copyright nag screen) for other DVD releases whenever I insert a DVD in the player. The reason I buy a DVD is so I can watch a movie without any commercials. If I want commercials I turn on my TV.
3. Release movies worldwide for all regions. Don’t let me wait! If I can get a copy before I can get the original don’t get mad at me for getting the copy.

Now what is the lesson the entertainment industry should learn? Well there is a couple of lessons actually:

1. Stop pissing off the consumer, instead give the consumer who is willing to buy the product the better deal.
2. Stop pissing off the consumer, instead give the consumer who is willing to buy the product the better deal.
3. Stop pissing off the consumer, instead give the consumer who is willing to buy the product the better deal.

So no more nag screens, no more irritating copyright notices, no more cripple-ware, rootkits and other malpractices. No more re-releases with more content, no more crap releases and finally: reasonable prices. Oh, before I forget: please stop prosecuting people who buy a CD and create MP3’s for personal use on their PC or music player. Stop pissing off the consumer. Until you do so: burn baby, burn!

Tags: copying, copyright, download, licenses, music, RIAA

This entry was posted on Monday, December 31st, 2007 at 0:04 and is filed under opinion, personal, political, tin-foil hat. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.