The Inept Greed of the Recording Industry

Updated on 11/27/2006 at 8:06PM EST

Before you read the article, click the link below and get good and worked up.

Click here to get thoroughly pissed.

Okay, are you pissed yet? If you listen to digital music, you should be. There's already so much to be angry about with regard to the RIAA (see this EFF article). We're dealing with an industry that continues to practice business as they did 50 years ago... heck, even longer. Instead of coming up with (or using an existing) method of distributing and selling their products in the digital age, they have chosen to brand every one of their customers as thieves and sue people who use file-sharing software on their computers (see this funny article about a person who was sued by the RIAA for having pirated song files from "Usher", when in fact that was his last name, and the files in question were personal documents he created).

What's so inflamatory about the aforementioned "click here to get throroughly pissed" article is that Microsoft created this giant can of worms by paying off Universal Music Group (UMG) with their Zune music player. In a nutshell, UMG gets a small cut of all sales of the music player because they feel that "anyone who uses a digital music player is stealing music". Since Microsoft caved in to this tactic, they're now going after other players, including the industry leading iPod from Apple.

I especially love this statement:

"The Zune (deal) was an amazingly interesting exercise, to end up with a piece of technology…"

An interesting exercise, huh? An exercise in legal extortion? Yeah, very interesting. And "…to end up with a piece of technology." If that doesn't sound like a mob boss talking about a shady waste management deal, I don't know what does.

Does this mean that Zune owners can now pirate any music from UMG artists? Sounds fair to me. Otherwise, why should we fund this kickback?

I kind of hope that Apple gives in and pays UMG as well, and I even hope that other labels get in on the action. Think of all the free music we'd be able to download and share legally, right?

Of course not. They want the kickback (like the audio CD-R levy in Canada), but don't want anyone downloading free music either. Nice.

I recommend that people do what I've been doing for some time: buy used CD's, and trade CD's away when you're sick of them, for newer ones, with sites like lala.com. Don't give these greedy, inept pigs any more of your money. Support your bands by going to concerts, or listening to and purchasing music from independent labels that don't use DRM'd (digital rights managed, a.k.a. locked) music.

- magic