This upsets me to no end. The Recording Industry Association of America, or RIAA, is the big giant we all love to hate. If you are one to be in support of freely downloading your music at will, these are the people who are looking to throw a lawsuit at you for a few thousand dollars.
The thing that gets me is that the RIAA is not only comprised of executives from inside the industry, but of musicians themselves. I understand that they want what is right. I am completely and totally all for artists getting the money they are entitled to from their music being distributed. To tell their fans to cough up the cash and drop out of community college is amazing. Looks like Mr. Record Company Executive will be having an extra week on the island this year.
That’s what really upsets me. By the time this money gets funneled down to the artists themselves, it is literally pennies. I could go on about it, but Courtney Love’s piece on Salon.com speaks to this really well. However, it was the piece by Steve Albini that opened my eyes to the situation a long time ago.
Don’t know who Courtney Love and Steve Albini are?