For years the RIAA has tried to convince the world that piracy is killing musicians.
Supported by bogus statistics and mistruths, they lobby politicians to pass draconian anti-piracy laws including SOPA and PIPA.
Until a few weeks ago the music group thought it had Congress it its pockets. But this changed when the Internet started to revolt, led by major sites such as Wikipedia and Reddit.
Responding to this backlash RIAA CEO Cary Sherman wrote a piece in the New York Times today. While I considered to respond to it in detail, pulling just one quote was more fitting.
“Misinformation may be a dirty trick, but it works,” Sherman writes.
Indeed, in a sick twist RIAA’s boss accuses the tech lobby of foul play, backing up his accusation with hundreds of clearly biased words.
But it works of course….
In my own biased opinion, the real problem is that outfits like the RIAA don’t work for the artists. They work for the giant record labels that exploit the copyrights of artists.
Those who take a good look at what’s happening in the music business will see that more money is spent than ever before. The big labels just aren’t getting as much as they want.
Jeff Price, Founder and CEO of the major music distributor Tunecore (tagline: sell your music, not your soul) sums it up nicely:
“The RIAA and its members are the voice of what the industry was, and an ever-shrinking part of what is. Stop fighting it and find a way to work with it before you are the odd man out.”
“There is no argument that the person or entity that control the copyright (be it an artist or a label), and only the person or entity that controls it, should have the right to do with it what they want.”
Price also points to a quote from Casey Rae Hunter, the Deputy Director of Future Of Music Coalition who wrote:
“Artists have every right to be wary when powerful entertainment conglomerates push for policies that could undermine free expression, all the while claiming to speak for creators.”
Indeed, the RIAA is nothing more than a spokeshole for the people who pop the champagne when an artists signs away its copyrights in a bad deal.
It’s not a coincidence that the CEO of the RIAA is a copyright lawyer, not a musician. Or is that misinformation too?
