Mike Dedwylder is a junior majoring in architecture. He can be contacted at [email protected]. There has been a paradigm shift in the way that people listen to and purchase music spanning the past 20 years.
I know this is shocking news, but apparently the Recording Industry Association of America missed that memo, as it continues to cling to an outdated business model. Through its ongoing litigation assault, the RIAA is doing little more than digging its own grave.
In a recent misstep, the association almost ruined any shred of credibility that it still clings to by asserting that MP3 files ripped from CDs are “unauthorized copies.”
The RIAA was quick to correct itself by saying it was not arguing the legality of these “unauthorized copies,” but instead the placement of these copies into shared folders.
It seems as though RIAA and its lawyers are trying their hardest to maintain a failing system, using the threat of litigation to control consumers, which, while ethically questionable, is still legal.
While I disagree with the tactics that the RIAA is employing, I can understand the desire to maintain profits. However, our culture, for better or worse, has become entwined with the progression of technology, especially when that technology makes an everyday task more convenient.
Needless to say, the MP3 player is such a piece of technology. Indeed, the iPod has become synonymous with music, and the Internet allows digital media to be purchased from almost anywhere.
So why are easily scratched, easily lost pieces of plastic still seen as the highest form of musical media to the RIAA when the rest of the world has moved on?
Even the musicians are beginning to take advantage of the progression of technology as personal recording equipment becomes less expensive and is of higher quality.
For example, Radiohead’s album In Rainbows was sold over the Internet by the artists before the hard copy was released. In fact, Thom Yorke of Radiohead reported that In Rainbows outsold any of their other albums before the hard copy even debuted.
We all know about the lawsuits being filed against Mississippi State students, and the university’s willingness to divulge students’ personal information, so this is an issue that strikes close to home for us all. Being such an issue, I couldn’t help but wonder why.
Why would such a profitable industry resort to taking legal action against its own clients? I don’t think the real reason behind all this is money, considering that the CEOs of many of these record companies own private islands, and sadly the musicians which this business requires to operate usually only see a fraction of the profits.
However, beyond the questions of morality and reasoning in this situation, the fact remains that the situation at hand is being poorly handled.