An Open Letter To The RIAA

A quote from cnn.com: "Universal Music Group said Wednesday it is cutting the suggested retail price of its compact discs to $12.98 from current prices ranging from $16.98 to $18.98 as of October 1st."

Dear members of the RIAA;

A slight drop on prices of some compact disks is a short term solution to a long term problem, and quite frankly, it won't work. I know it won't work. You know it won't work. The 15 year old kid who throws CD burning parties knows it won't work. nycfashiongirl's lawyers all know it won't work. However, the music industry has become so bloated that we're all going to watch it happen anyway. Yet another feeble attempt at bailing water out of the Titanic rather than steering clear of the iceberg.

Let's look at this from a different perspective: A man goes to see his doctor and says "Doc, it hurts when I do this." The doctor looks at him & says "Don't do that."

Is the concept too difficult for you to understand?

Indie labels made money. Bigger labels bought those smaller labels. A record that would have made a sizeable profit under a smaller label loses money today under any of the big 5.

It hurts when you create bloated corporations. "Don't do that."

To pay for your bloated infrastructure, you put the squeeze on those you need the most. Retailers are closing their doors. Consumers can't afford your products anyway.

It hurts when you price yourself out of your own monopoly. "Don't do that."

Technology should be causing your expenses to plummet. Postage has become email. Paper has become webspace. The tape music was created on is becoming 1's and 0's. Multi million dollar studios are being built for under six figures and a laptop. Put your hands together and say it with me my brothers and sisters: Hallelujah, the revolution has begun! ...but you fought it every step of the way.

It hurts when you fight progress. "Don't do that."

IT'S TIME:

It's time for American Airlines to go out of business and be replaced by Southwest and JetBlue. Please tell me you are intelligent enough to understand how that relates to you.

It's time to take a course in basic accounting. If you sell 100,000 copies of 25 cents worth of plastic, charging $15.99 apiece while billing the musician for expenses, and you still fail to make a profit... technically speaking, you've fucked up royaly.

It's time to stop buying people like me wine at The Palm as that accomplishes nothing for the musician whose music you peddle. I do love a good chianti, but if the record is a hit I'm going to play it anyway. And if it isn't, your problem can't be solved by wine. Not even chianti.

It's time to market your products to consumers instead of relying on broadcasters, publishers and other third parties to do it for you. Email free mp3's as singles in order to promote the sale of albums. Put samples of songs on artist websites. Not sometimes. Do it EVERY TIME. The band Something Corporate has been bubbling under for years. They've got a new single from a forthcoming album but their fans can't yet hear it. Thus, you have failed... and that is only one small example out of thousands.

It's time to get a clue. Walk into any high school in America and ask kids what they want. They're already speaking. They have been for years.

It's time to listen.