HearYa - Indie Music Blog » RIAA http://www.hearya.com Indie Music Blog, Live Sessions, and Daily MP3 Downloads. Fri, 19 Mar 2010 06:06:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 Oh, and about that big day in digital music… http://www.hearya.com/2008/10/03/oh-and-about-that-big-day-in-digital-music/ http://www.hearya.com/2008/10/03/oh-and-about-that-big-day-in-digital-music/#comments Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:22:49 +0000 oz http://www.hearya.com/?p=2786

They decided not to change anything, for better or for worse…till death do us part. How anti-climactic.

]]> http://www.hearya.com/2008/10/03/oh-and-about-that-big-day-in-digital-music/feed/ 0 Tomorrow is a big day for digital music. http://www.hearya.com/2008/10/01/tomorrow-is-a-big-day-for-digital-music/ http://www.hearya.com/2008/10/01/tomorrow-is-a-big-day-for-digital-music/#comments Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:44:21 +0000 oz http://www.hearya.com/?p=2715

The copyright royalty board (yes, those guys) is getting together to set rates for music copyright fees on digital downloads for the next five years. It’s currently at $0.09 and publishers are working hard to move it to $0.15. Apple responded, indicating that if that rate increase is put into effect, they may be forced to shut down iTunes.

TechCrunch has a great writeup, urging the board to consider a rev-share model.

It’s understandable that music publishers want more money. I like money too, but aren’t retail prices already too high in Amazon and iTunes?  Why assume that raising prices will yield more revenue? If I suddenly asked every HearYa reader to pay $1.00 per post they read, I’m pretty sure I know what will happen.  Everyone will stop reading because similar content can be found elsewhere for free.

Is anyone else concerned that a guy wearing a bowtie has 1/3rd of the power in this decision?

]]> http://www.hearya.com/2008/10/01/tomorrow-is-a-big-day-for-digital-music/feed/ 3 The saga ends. Muxtape is no longer. http://www.hearya.com/2008/09/29/the-saga-ends-muxtape-is-no-longer/ http://www.hearya.com/2008/09/29/the-saga-ends-muxtape-is-no-longer/#comments Mon, 29 Sep 2008 18:15:14 +0000 oz http://www.hearya.com/?p=2656

You can read all about it here or on Muxtape’s site, where the founder writes an essay that’s impossible to finish. I’ll give  you the short version – RIAA wins again.

Marvin Gaye – If I Should Die Tonight (via)

]]> http://www.hearya.com/2008/09/29/the-saga-ends-muxtape-is-no-longer/feed/ 1 RIAA shuts down Muxtape, earns those big salaries. http://www.hearya.com/2008/08/22/riaa-shuts-down-muxtape-earns-those-big-salaries/ http://www.hearya.com/2008/08/22/riaa-shuts-down-muxtape-earns-those-big-salaries/#comments Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:53:58 +0000 oz http://www.hearya.com/?p=1816

A day after Digital Music News reported that RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) top execs earned about $1.5 million a year, VentureBeat reported that RIAA shut down Muxtape (online music mixtapes).  You may remember one of those executives from her days chasing down illegal file sharers, one pesky villain at a time.

The quote from RIAA:

For the past several months, we have communicated our legal concerns with the site and repeatedly tried to work with them to have illegal content taken down. Muxtape was hosting copies of copyrighted sound recordings without authorization from the copyright owners. Making these recordings available for streaming playback also requires authorization from the copyright owners. Muxtape has not obtained authorization from our member companies to host or stream copies of their sound recordings.

Not a good week of news for music technology companies that stream music (see Pandora post).

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