Rant: Don’t sue your fans!

Once upon a time, back when people over 30 hadn’t heard of Napster, the rest of us were pretty sure that we’d stumbled onto the holy fucking grail and that when people over 30 did hear about it they’d ruin the party.

We were all a little bit shocked, though, that the first people to crash the party in a big way were Metallica. Metallica, for fuck’s sake. The RIAA, yes. We expected that at some point corporate suits would shut down peer-to-peer because, let’s be honest, we all knew it was illegal. But Metallica?

Worse, in addition to Napster, they named 3 universities in the suit and attempted to make it a RICO violation.

Why am I rehashing all this?

Metallica’s big argument was that the lawsuit was the only way for them to regain lost profits from music that was shared illegally. Napster settled that suit, but it led to what was essentially a class-action against Napster by the labels and RIAA, to make sure the artists got paid. And at that point, even the fans agreed – the artists should get paid.

So, nine years after the first suit was filed, and months after the settlement was finalized, have the artists been paid?

No.

Who’s surprised?

So all of you who jumped on Metallica’s bandwagon, nine years after pissing off your audience and earning the stigma of being the artists who tried to sue the fans into paying for music, what do you have? Plans for a new lawsuit, this time against the suits who, shock, kept the $270 million from the settlement.

Don’t sue your fans, people. If the business model doesn’t work, find a new one. Lawsuits don’t get you anything but bad press.

Random Cool Thing: Shake-ups in the IFPI/RIAA

Variety is reporting that EMI, the smallest of the four major record labels, has taken the first step toward exiting the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the London-based music trade group that represents the interests of the international recording industry. The IFPI, which receives most of its funding from the major labels, has recently begun an internal review of operations that will examine the “structure and operation of the organisation and its relationship with the national groups [like the RIAA] with a view to finding greater efficiencies and cutting costs,” according to comments from an IFPI spokesman. (Ars Technica)

According to the article in Variety, a source close to the IFPI has disclosed that all four majors are are in talks with the IFPI regarding changes in the structure and priorities of all major trade organizations, including the RIAA. “This is not about cost-cutting. Functions and structure need to make sense to all major labels. Right now, funding them doesn’t make sense.” EMI has threatened to pull its funding from the IFPI and RIAA if “the structure and aims of the IFPI are not aligned with the interests of EMI.” (Variety)

Both Ars Technica and Variety speculate that EMI will not actually pull out of either the IFPI or RIAA. The RIAA participates in the collection of licenses and royalties in the United States, as well as certifying gold and platinum albums. EMI can’t afford to do without either service. However, it has been widely speculated that the RIAA’s policy of suing individuals accused of copyright violation has been wildly expensive, while generating very little revenue for the group. There is no evidence that the policy has deterred file-sharers or increased CD sales. The policy has also generated a huge amount of bad press for the group and the music industry in general. If EMI is looking to have the trade organizations cut costs and align with their own interests, they may be pressuring the groups to stop the lawsuits.

I find all of this backroom maneuvering interesting because EMI has demonstrated its power to be a force for change in the music industry’s recent past. EMI was the first major label to sell music DRM free, following it’s purchase by Guy Hands and the Terra Firma fund, a private equity fund. Terra Firma is currently looking to reinvigorate the label and cut expenses, and seems perfectly willing to do so by ignoring the rules that have governed the industry for years.

Since EMI’s move to DRM free sales, the other three major labels have begun or announced plans to sell music DRM free in Amazon’s MP3 store. If this move follows the pattern set by the DRM wars, we can expect to see Warner, Universal, and Sony begin to put pressure on the trade organizations to find new ways to represent industry interests, hopefully ways that reflect the changes that the labels will need to continue to make to stay relevant.

Random Cool Thing: Sony BMG signs to Amazon MP3

via CNet

Finally. The catalog should be live in late January. I guess the MusicPass scheme got panned worse than they expected.

Despite the good news, I’ve got one eye watching for the other shoe (i.e. the only albums going up on Amazon are the 37 also slated for MusicPass). This is Sony, after all.

What I’m Listening To: Weatherbox, American Art

• Artist website: www.weatherboxmusic.com
• Listen at: www.myspace.com/weatherbox
• Available at: Myspace via Snocap, Amazon MP3, eMusic (EP only)

I discovered Weatherbox’s American Art in a comment in January’s Alternative Press. If you look in their best of 2007 list, there’s a note under Album of the Year that the music editor is obsessed with this album. The obsession is well-justified – this album is amazing. The sound is as ambitious and all-encompassing as Say Anything at their schizophrenic best. American Art manages to build a coherent sound that swings from country-influenced rock on “The Clearing” to pop-influenced guitar rock on “Atoms Smash”. The songs are cleverly constructed and tend toward a stream-of-consciousness level of accessibility. The vocal delivery is raw and emphatic without being pretentious or overly pretty.

Weatherbox is playing Chain Reaction on Jan. 31.

Rant: Sony misses point, rams head firmly back up own ass

via Crave

On Friday I got all excited about the rumors that Sony BMG would be dropping DRM from it’s digital music. I thought about hedging, added a “maybe” to the title of the post, then dropped it and decided to go ahead and believe, because we all want to believe, don’t we?

As it turns out, what I thought was too good to be true was, in fact, too good to be true. According to CNet’s Crave blog, the DRM free scheme that Sony has come up with is selling gift cards that can be redeemed for DRM-free albums online.

So, the good point: DRM free music. Yay!

The bad points: The program is supposed to go live on Jan. 15, but only with 37 titles. I guarantee, those 37 titles will not include music by The Audition, which I would really like to buy. In fact, they’ll probably only include Sony’s 37 biggest recent releases, which you can find almost anywhere. One of the reasons online music stores are so cool is that they have everything, including the indie/obscure albums that I’d rather not trek all around town trying to find. Over the weekend, I did a quick swing through music stores in my town while I was running errands. I didn’t find any music by The Audition or Breathe Carolina, anywhere. (To be fair, I’m not entirely sure Breathe Carolina are in stores. But I’m relatively sure The Audition is, or would be, if physical stores catered to anything other than Billboard’s Top 100.)

You still have to go to a brick and mortar retail store to buy the gift cards, which means that you get none of the convenience of buying online, and none of the actual physical media. Don’t get me wrong, I think CDs are a massive hassle, but if I have to go to the store to buy my music, I might as well get the album art, line notes, and maybe the extras that you get on a disc. If I’m going to a store to buy my music, I at least want to be able to play it in the car on the way home.

I have a sneaking suspicion that these gift cards won’t be much cheaper than a physical album, either. If I’m giving up said album art/lyrics/extras, don’t expect me to pay $16.99 for an album. It’s not going to happen. Especially when, if all you’re physically purchasing is a gift card, the distributor has eliminated the vast majority of manufacturing/distribution costs.

Sony, I’m still disappointed. But I can’t say I’m surprised.