Brick and Mortar to Ashes and Dust.

My local CD shop after more than 10 years of business is gone. They were a cool little shop and it pains me to see them go. They had a SWEET sale before they closed shop though, so I got a lot of stuff for cheap. I had a really interesting conversation with the owner of the shop though.

Steve Jobs may very well have had his hand in their demise with the advent of iTunes. I told the owner of the shop that the reason he didn't get much of my business is because I boycott the RIAA. That also being the reason that I walked out of there for the last time with only used media.

When I told him that I boycotted them he said "Why!?" I was taken aback at his reaction but I told him how I felt about it. He, being a part time DJ in addition to running the shop knew pretty well how things worked in the music business. He told me that he thought overall the RIAA tried to help musicians. He did admit that their practices were questionable, but that ultimately they helped musicians do better than if they were independent.

Although Cloud Cult seems to be doing well, I can see how the RIAA does lift a lot of the burden off the musicians backs so that they can concentrate on writing and producing the music they want to. But my problem with the RIAA is that they don't give the artists nearly what they deserve.

The guy that I spoke to also said that he thought the artists were struggling quite a bit right now. I think I believe that. I'm sure it is much more difficult to become a signed artist right now because iTunes only charges $10 an album so there is much less revenue to give to the artists. David Byrne goes into great detail on the situation that musicians face here: David Byrne's Survival Strategies for Emerging Artists — and Megastars The 360 deal being the worst possible deal for artists to agree to.

So, in boycotting the RIAA I'm sending a message to two parties. The RIAA and the musicians. Basically I would like to see the RIAA ended and I would like to see musicians begin to converge on their own and figure out a new method of helping each other to get noticed. Ok, I guess that just doesn't happen as we all know competition is a big part of the music business. After all that's why all these boy bands popped up at the same time back in the 90's. They gotta cash in.

Ultimately I feel that since music has become so commercialized, it has lost much of it's sincerity. I'd love to see no more payola radio, no more bands releasing one ballad to sell their record only to find upon purchasing their album that they're thrashcore country metal rapstars, no more "the first album was great, but the second album blew" careers... Ahhh what an utopian dream.. Of course it's not ever going to be perfect, but it could be so much better than it is now.

Speaking of Cloud Cult, I'm going to see them in concert in April. I'm really looking forward to it and I just love how they handle themselves business-wise as well. Their new album came out yesterday, go check em out!

Actually.

Maddingo from my threadless blog commented on the recent blog about the RIAA suing a man over ripping CDs saying "Actually as it turns out while the RIAA has worded the ripped mp3s as "unathorized copies"

What they are actually suing him over is sharing the files via Kazaa"

engadget story on this issue"

I'm glad he cleared that up but the RIAA still needs to be stopped.

Buy Direct or Buy Used.

The RIAA is ruining music. Here are the steps I take before buying an album. I first check online to see if the album is available directly from the artist, then I check and make sure that the label that the artists are on are not a part of the RIAA: www.boycottriaa.com for that. If their label is associated with the RIAA I start to look for it in the used section at CD stores or buy it used from Amazon. If I'm lucky I'll buy an album directly at the artist's concert because they usually get to keep the money they make from sales at the venue, although that may not be the case at all according to Courtney Love's article. Also, apparently the CDs aren't always available for sale at the venue either as I found out when I went to see Muse and My Chemical Romance.

I don't actually like to buy used CDs because the artists do not benefit in any way. But if they would allow me to buy their music directly from them on their website I wouldn't have to buy used. www.bishopallen.com is one such band, although they recently decided to sign with a label in order to get more serious about their career so not all of your money will go directly to them, but they have a really interesting method of distributing their music. www.cloudcult.com is another band of interest who I gladly gave my money directly to. Supposedly their method is working out really well for them, it's good music too.

www.harveydanger.com offers their album "Little by Little..." on their website for free with the stipulation that if you like it you should throw a little money in the pot. I didn't like it. But at least they're not affiliated with the RIAA. www.radiohead.com IS affiliated with the RIAA but they have decided to offer their new album "In Rainbows" up for download where you get to decide how much you want to pay them. Or you can get a box set for $56.50. BAHH I say!

The reason I dodge the RIAA is because they are detrimental to music artists everywhere. Courtney Love, of all people, sums it up well:

http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2000/06/14/love/print.html

To sum up the article if you don't want to read it, she tells how the artists get paid a million dollars to split up among the members once they sign to a major label. They then produce the album, hire a bunch of lawyers, and go on tour, all the while that million is getting sucked up like a sponge. Now as long as they continue to tour they do alright, but if the band has differences and split up they get poor quick! That's why Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes of TLC had to file for bankruptcy. So in buying used music the record store wins, and you didn't have to put your money towards something so malicious as the RIAA.