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  • From: David Minton <dminton AT mindspring.com>
  • To: InterNetWorkers <internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [internetworkers] Slate: Music industry's wounds are self-inflicted
  • Date: Thu, 22 Aug 2002 10:15:08 -0400

I am not sure if I read it here, but I recall reading that the RIAA
"research study" was highly flawed. They looked at RETAIL music sales in
areas with large concentrations of college aged people (i.e. college towns)
during Napster's run. Hmm, college aged people, I wonder if they may be
buying CDs ONLINE? Well, the RIAA did not consider that a possibility; if
they were not buying CDs retail, they must be pirating through Napster.

The better part is that if you looked at the data from the same areas before
Napster, you could see the trend had already begun. The RIAA also considered
this irrelevant.

I guess there is a new line of work for "creative accountants" laid off from
Arthur Anderson; they can calculate statistics for the RIAA.

Just my opinion, of course.

David

On 8/22/02 9:29 PM, "H. Wade Minter" <minter AT lunenburg.org> wrote:

> "The Recording Industry Association of America, which represents the five
> major labels that dominate CD retailing, would like to blame much of the
> slide on Internet music-file swapping. Yet there are many other causes,
> including the fact that the big five are all units of troubled
> multinationals?AOL Time Warner, Vivendi Universal, BMG, EMI, and Sony?that
> are focused on short-term gain and have no particular interest in the
> music biz. There's also been a recession, of course, and resistance to CD
> prices that have grown much faster than the inflation rate. Perhaps the
> most important factor, however, is the major labels' very success in
> dominating the market, which has squelched musical innovation."
>
> http://slate.msn.com/?id=2069732





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