What Artists think about RIAA, Its Tactics, and the Record Industry

I try not to encourage piracy too much but when it comes to the Recording Industry Association of America, my blood really boils when I think about the tactics they use to combat file sharing. It simply doesn’t make sense to sue single moms, children, elderly computer novices, or even those who are deceased. Does my opinion matter? Probably not. But take a look at what various artists have had to say about what the RIAA and recording industry in general is doing. Some quotes are newer… some are older… all are interesting.

– Bob Weir of Grateful Dead:
“They’re protecting an archaic industry. They should turn their attention to new models.”

– David Draiman of Disturbed:
“This is not rocket science. Instead of spending all this money litigating against kids who are the people they’re trying to sell things to in the first place, they have to learn how to effectively use the Internet…. For the artists, my ass. I didn’t ask them to protect me, and I don’t want their protection…..The focus of the industry needs to shift from Soundscan numbers to downloads. It’s the way of the future. You can smell it coming. Stop fighting it, because you can’t.”

– Chuck D of Public Enemy:
“Lawsuits on 12 year old kids for downloading music, duping a mother into paying a $2,000 settlement for her kid? Those scare tactics are pure Gestapo.”

– Moby:
“File sharing is a reality, and it would seem that the labels would do well to learn how to incorporate it into their business models somehow. Record companies suing 12 year old girls for file sharing is kind of like horse and buggy operators suing Henry Ford.”

– Gregg Rollie of Santana and Journey:
“They have all these abnormal practice that keep driving the price up. People think musicians make all that money, but it’s not true. We make the smallest amount.”

– Wayne Coyne of Flaming Lips:
“Who doesn’t want to get paid for their work? But I think it works to musicians’ benefit for people to be able to occasionally listen to their music and, if they really like it, go out and buy it…..I don’t know that there’s any one factor behind the industry. Maybe it’s downloading, or maybe people just didn’t feel like buying so many records. So Metallica makes $10 million instead of $20 million, who cares? To me, the sympathy is unwarranted. Some of this is just the hazard of doing business. It’s the nature of the world. At the end of the day, it’s just rock and roll. It isn’t that big of a deal.”

– 50 Cent:
“What is important for the music industry to understand is that this really doesn’t hurt the artists….The concerts are crowded and the industry must understand that they have to manage all the 360 degrees around an artist. They have to maximize their income from concerts and merchandise. It is the only way they can get their marketing money back….The main problem is that the artists are not getting as much help developing as before file-sharing. They are now learning to peddle ringtones, not records….They don’t understand the value of a perfect piece of art.”

– Janis Ian:
“The premise of all this ballyhoo is that the industry (and its artists) are being harmed by free downloading. Nonsense.”

– Jason Mraz:
“I am also still not ashamed of downloading music and file sharing. We invented it. We love it. We crave it. Even I, an artist whos work is up for grabs hold no material attachment to the product. The songs themselves are the product of the divine and deserve no imprisonment by any organization or device for storing music. Thanks to the technology we created, all art is capable of being seen or heard at the blink of an eye. This is mankind’s greatest achievement in our generation so far. Theft is the issue we must learn to correct. Gratitude is what we must give in return.”

– Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails:
“I remember a time when it felt like, being on a major label, our interests were aligned….But those days are gone. Because, mainly, that infrastructure is broken at the moment. How long before they (record companies) are irrelevant? Who knows? They seem to be doing everything they can to make sure that happens as quickly as possible.”

– Thom Yorke of Radiohead:
“I like the people at our record company, but the time is at hand when you have to ask why anyone needs one. And, yes, it probably would give us some perverse pleasure to say ‘F*ck you’ to this decaying business model.”



Granted that this sample of quotes does not represent all artists in all places, but it sure makes me wonder whose best interests the RIAA is protecting.


Sources:
SFGate.com
Kjendis.no
JanisIan.com
Wikipedia
NYmag.com
Time