Who wants to by crippleware? Send the RIAA and like minded stooges a message.... STOP BUYING THEIR CRAP!
Historically Boycotts are extremely effective. Hit em where it hertz... in the wallet. They WILL get the message sooner or later(although I'm betting its later).

yarrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

This is how my....friend....does things.

Most new music he isn't interested in, but loves music. What he does is, find an artist he is interested in, download an album or two. He is anal about mp3 compression quality, and most pirated music isn't up to his standard. If he likes the album after listening to it for a few months, he will actually purchase the CD for his collection (and for a higher quality rip). Of course, he goes and buys it off of eBay for dirt cheap. So I...he....sees the problem for the record industry a combo of unexciting new releases, pirating, and cheap as hell resale of older albums on eBay.

It could also be shear array of entertainment options people have to spend their money on. When I was in college and spent a tidy sum on vinyl (yeah I'm old), I didn't have dvds, video games, cell phone bills, highspeed internet and countless other things sucking up my money and/or leisure hours.

We had music and we bought and listened to a lot of it.

Now that I'm older and have money I buy a fair amount of music but it's the older stuff back catalog stuff. But from talking to my contemporaries they pretty much gave up buying music when they got married.

The problem is boycotts do NOT work on record companies, because they can simply choose to ignore the real reason for the boycott and blame all dwindling (sp?) sales on the evil "pirates". Aaarg. It must be nice to have a scapegoat for those times when your entire business model has failed.

Part of the problem for the record industry is that they steadfastly refuse to give the consumer what they want...high quality sound, via digital downloads and unencumbered by DRM schemes that deprive me of my legal, fair use rights.

The other part of the problem is that the lack of quality music put out by the recording industry is finally catching up with them. I no longer have to purchase an entire CD for $16+ just to get the one or two decent songs on the album. Digital downloads have re-energized the market for singles...at the expense of full albums.

I'm poor, they're still rich (execs and artists I'd be interested in), so it's "Shiver me timbers" for me.

I don't lose sleep over it.

1. Mainstream DRM. i have sevrel mp3 players and use them interchangably depinding on what i'm doing

i may use my phones mp3 plaer i may use my audible otis or i may use somthing els.
MP3 is a standerd without drm should stay that way.

2. i pay 99 cents for a track from an online place and i do buy them genrily i use napster as it works with my phone and otis both.
but i dont like the lack of a HIGH bitrate track.
when i pay 99 cents for the song i wan acces to the uncompresed song if i want it.

3. They keep messing up the sound by rasing the volume of instermints in the tracks
Amping up the volume tends to kill the true vibe of the music and kills things like high snars or a true thump in the drum by dedning them. by the time you get the drumtrack and the spots where the artist who orginaly mixed the track to there proper level the rest of the music is blering out at max volume and ruins it for me.

4. the recording indestry is just plain pissing me off last few years and i've kind of held back. ben sticking to smaller groups and lables only buying the tracks i truly like alot. and only if i cant find them eather via ebay or a direct band supporting site.
I don't wana buy from a group of people who constintly B**** about the fact there custimers are all criminals and none of them can be trusted. Well Music indestry that line works both ways treat me like a readheaded stepchild with cliptomainea and i will treat you like the school bully and stay the f. away from you. :)

Artificial scarcity will always lose eventually.

Digital Rights "Management" (like Guantanimo is Human Rights "Management") is capricious, arbitrary, and ultimately ineffective.

Treat your customers like criminals, and see what kind of loyalty that inspires.

in the words of jello biafra: "could it be you put out one too many lousy records?"
the quality of music being put out by bands across the spectrum is terrible, underground and indie music is no exception either. i lay most of the blame there. fix that and then we can talk about digital hurting the industry. i think there is no difference between this argument and the home taping argument of 25-30 years ago. don't tell me that you are getting a perfect copy of anything by downloading it. most of that stuff is of such a low bitrate as to be unlistenable.

$.99 for the one song I do want to hear is better than $16.99 for all of them on the album.

And most of the musicians I like ain;t working for Time Warner

Why would I pay when I can get it free? Ask most any musician and they'll say its about the music, not the money. We've been playing music since time began basically, why all of a sudden should,ve it become a profit industry in the 1900's. The producers get rich, the musicians get screwed, and we all pay for it. Music should be free, always.

I think DRM is the stupidest thing I've experienced. That alone ruined music industry for me.

Most modern music doesn't do it for me. I don't even touch the stuff. I'm not that old yet, but I still prefer my back catalog and enjoy the music I have. The only new music I really hear are things from imported games and new scores from movies + games.
However, I don't always enjoy hearing them repeated, and I just simply move on to other things.

I haven't bought a CD since the 90s, and I doubt that'd change, since I'd rather just remix whatever new music I buy online, whenever they structure that stuff out (No DRM and higher quality).

Btw, I won't lose sleep over their failing business model. If they are losing alot of money, they are likely losing jobs. That isn't my fault though, it is the higher execs' fault.
This is like a company refusing to change with the times, continuing to make coach wagons instead of automobiles; it isn't our fault if they are losing money fast.

People wouldn't mind buying music, but not at the expense of paying $16 for 1 song that they can't even own due to DRM.
It is becoming very problematic that most things we're starting to buy aren't even ours, but rather "leased" or "licensed".

WMG didn't want to adapt, so they are suffering the consequences. However, they'll just scapegoat pirates as the problem, when they've existed for years and never truly harm the industry.

The music I've been buying has either been directly from the artist or from Studios outside the RIAA. I have long given up on the music that makes it onto the radio.

Tangentially, I've found a number of unsigned artists lately through podcasts such as NPR's Open Mic, Boston Unsigned, BBC Radio 1's Best of Unsigned, and others.

There's a truly vast amount of music out there, beyond just the stuff the RIAA deigns to patronize.

this reminds me of the southpark episode when they download music, and the FBI raids the house instantly. then the montage of lars, britney, and master p, not being able to buy islands and private jets and such.

lol yarrrr indeed.

@harumph: @AlteredBeast: You guys aren't looking in the right places, I can find quality rips where wouldn't know the difference.

I think there's a few things going on here.

1) Crapware. People don't want it.
2) Crapmusic. The labels have attempted to mainstream a few bands, while the public really wants to hear something different. Personally, I can't stand the same repetitive playlists I hear on most radio stations, so I don't listen. I want something different, but unless I'm willing to dive into the indy-scene, I simply won't find it.
3) Demographics. The baby boomers are getting older, and are at that point in their lives where they're just not interested in buying music.
4) Wii,Internet,Movie,Books, CableTV - all these have more bang for the buck. Why pay $20 for a CD when $25 will buy me a DVD, $35 will buy a game, or I can waste time online for free?

@Cowboys_fan: that may be true but i still say the majority of what is being produced is utter crap anyway.

I second cassifras's observation on the price structure. The major record labels have gotten used to cramming 15-20 songs on a CD of which only 2-3 are production quality. The rest were just scrapings that came off the sound room floor. So why spend $20 bucks for the CD when you can buy the 3 songs for $3 bucks?

Well Duh!

While you cannot discount the continued growth of digital sharing/sales, the truth of the matter is that consumers are being presented with flavor of the month artists with the sole purpose of releasing "hits" until they next trend has begun. The labels need to wake up and realize they need to groom and work with artists allowing them to build an audience and establish themselves, instead of putting together cookie cutter bands that we will all
Soon forget within months anyhow. This is the problem facing the industry, not digital sharing and purchasing.

probably because they're used to selling an over priced product and aren't making rediculous profits anymore. they shouldn't have been making that much money in the first place.

I don't know what they expected to happen when they decided to start intimidating, extorting money from, and otherwise taking advantage of the general public. Despite the propaganda the music cartels are spewing, people can see what is really going on. The boycott of the RIAA (and it international counterparts) and their products is the public's way of saying that it's had enough and that just because a company and its lobbyists are in bed with the government doesn't mean that the citizens of that government don't see through it. Their draconian business model is well on its way to extinction because people are voting with their dollars. This is simply an uplifting example of one instance where the will of the people is winning out.

DRM'ed music online for cheap, but folks want to pay for non-DRM'ed music, plus want to choose their own tracks. Over half the tracks on the CD are just crap, not worth the price! There's only a select few CD's I'll buy because of that.

One thing that really bothers me (and nobody has been able to explain it), is the fact that 99% of the time, I can buy the DVD of a movie for less than half the price of said movie's soundtrack CD. Does that make ANY kind of sense?

My sister-in-law works for a record company, and I posed this question to her. She said something about production costs of the cd being the reason the price was so high. I countered with the fact that the movie cost something like $80 million dollars to make, verses the CD which was something like $400,000. She was stumped. I felt bad for her, cause she's been kind of brainwashed by her employer to not recognize the problems the industry has.

I'm glad they're losing money. Maybe they'll learn to make better music at a reasonable price.

Definitely going to have to agree that we are in a singles-driven culture, and there are too many cheaper means, both legal and not, of getting those 2 or 3 good songs without buying a whole album.

I definitely think that we are moving towards a world where live music, not recorded ones, will be the major source of revenue for artists. Good for musicians like Dave Matthews and Phish, not so good for the Britneys and Justins of the world (unless record companies can get people to start paying for videos)

Yeah, I too refuse to buy DRM'd crippleware. I bought some of the DRM free EMI tracks though.

I'm supporting my local Houston, TX music scene now. It's actually great to see my money go exclusively to a up and coming band.

It's great to not feel "dirty" about the way I participate in music again.

I will NOT change this trend until there is no longer an RIAA.

Look RIAA, it goes like this: You got too drunk on profits and you are vomiting all over the music party, and you screwed the bands cat!. Take your girlfriend the MPAA with you, you are here by BANNED from future music "keggers."

@GreatMoose: I think that would be because DVD sales are for the most part pure profit- the money has hopefully been made and costs recouped after a theatrical release.

CD's don't have that option.

What did they think would happen when they started suing their fan base, and started trying to kill internet radio?

What did they think would happen when they kept releasing bubblegum crap with only one or 2 good songs per CD?

The first CD I've been willing to buy in over 2 years? The soundtrack for "I now pronounce you Chuck and Larry". Except they didn't release a soundtrack.

Oh well, guess I just won't buy any CDs this year, since they're all a rip off as far as the number of good songs per CD. Not to mention that the profits from their sales will go directly to suing people that don't even own computers...

Interestingly, they didn't mention piracy explicitly, yet everyone here jumps all over that angle. Are we doing their propaganda for them?

I don't consider myself a music pirate yet (once in a blue moon) buy cheap music off a russian download site. Hey Warner, BMG and all the big label artists: here's the world's smallest violin: <>==#

@The Bigger Unit:
I'd suggest using google to seach for an article by Steve Albini (Nirvana producer, Bush producer, etc) on the Negativland website (originally from MRR or Punk Planet) entitled "The Problem With Music". Most of the artists are not rich. It's a wonderful read for anyone interested in the money side of the artists.

Crappy music. I buy music from my favorite bands, and most of them are from overseas. None of the worthless stuff that Warner signs. Stop signing generic bands that all sound the same (none of which is good by the way) and you'll get me back as a customer. It's not even a matter of downloading legally or illegally, it's a matter of offering something worth consuming at all.

If I really feel the need to pay for mainstream music, which is exceedingly rare, I will buy used CD's on eBay. The RIAA can die in a fire for all I care.

I haven't bought a CD since the advent of Napster almost 10 years ago. In fact, I've digitized all my CDs and tossed them or sold them for #2 on Half.com. I used to download a lot of music but I've mostly quit...basically, I just don't like any of the music that's coming out any more. I can find indie songs online for free (legally) that I enjoy a lot more. My friends make me mix CDs sometimes, but other than that, I haven't heard any song on the radio that's made me think, you know, I want to OWN that, to play it on demand whenever I want, so I'll fork over some cash and buy it.

I've wondered if it's because I'm getting older and growing up seems to kill the void that only music filled in high school. But I also think the music that's out there now IS a void.

Well, that's to be expected when you're part of the worst company in America...

@harumph: "MTV GET OFF THE AIR!!" i love that song.

so, i dont think i even have to type it, but...
im not helping them out any.
the last time i bought a cd was off of amazon, used and it was an older cd. most of the music i listen to is older stuff anyway, that i actually paid for.
as far as quality rips, i downl.. acquired a cd that was 320 kb/s yesterday and its not like it matters on an ipod anyway.

@mph: this doesn't explain why you pay full price for an album made in the 60's or 70's whose production costs have been paid for long before cds even existed. cds cost less than $1 to manufacture. methinks too much money goes to propping up/ the shoving down our throats of worse than mediocre performers. not artists for the most part, performers.

I think Fake Steve Jobs explained it rather admirably a few months ago. See here.

Paraphrasing: The glamorous "music industry" is in fact two less-glamourous, lower-tech industries: extortion (loan money to artists to make albums at outrageous rates) and distribution (warehouses of little plastic discs). Cheap digital recording equipment and programs has killed the former and the digital disrtibution/piracy is killing the latter. They're holding onto increasingly obsolete models.

Not to mention the whole "suing your customers" and "suppressing new models of distribution" tactics. Those don't make many friends.

Hmmm

1) People who BUY their music from CD's get crippled cd's that won't even play on some computer cd-roms (how many people still buy cd players?)

2) Basically pissing everyone off that were still on the boarder line of buying some and pirating some by suing everyone

3) Spending Millions upon millions on promoting cookie cutter artist with cookie cutter songs.

4) Spending Millions upon millions on promoting artist that really have no appeal at all.

Example: Who here who ever thought Britney Spears was ok before finds it absolutely horrifying that they are trying to promote her again as much as an A-List artist?

I just hope that my boycott of all RIAA affiliated music has contributed to this decline.

You hear that Warner? As long as you sue your customers and affiliate yourself with those extortionists, I will not buy a single CD because music is only something I want, not need. Plus, there are other groups out there then your stock of crap.

I never paid very much for music. I used to get friends to tape albums or CDs. As I get older I get more picky about sound quality so I don't like MP3s except in the car where I can't hear the difference. I do spend money on used CDs from artists I know I like. Time Warner was the company that invested in AOL right? Enough said

I guess I should throw in what I do... I don't download anymore, but I used to in the glory days of Napster--ahh, Napster on dorm room T3 lines...

Anyway, I still buy a lot of CDs, but that's only because I don't like the DRM'd MP3s from online music stores. Of course, crippleware on discs and the shift to DRM-free MP3s is making that point moot.

It just seems shameful that the music industry appears to have no respect for their customers. I buy a lot less music than I used to simply because it's such a pain in the ass.

@mph: I suppose that's part of it, but I think a bigger part of the problem is that CDs are overpriced for what they are. It's as simple as that.

For me personally, I don't listen to america music with the exception of few artists like NIN and Korn which btw I BROUGHT their cds.

Another than that, Kpop/Jpop is my new drug.

Bad sales = More pirating?

Crappy music = Bad sales
RIAA = bad reputation = Boycot = Bad sales

Why should I pay to buy a c-d by a mediocre artist who only gained a reputation through repetition on the local corporate radio station?

Even if I LIKE a song that I hear (which is nooooot often!) I'm not going to pay to support a corrupt business with corrupt practices who will only continue to shove crap artists down my throat via controlled radio.

I listen to college radio and I find new artists via the internet. Things I like... well, I'll walk the plank before telling you how I acquire them.