Who is Looking Out for the Music Industry

Who is looking out for artists and labels to protect them from piracy? The Recording IndustryAssociation of America does. The RIAA has received considerable criticism on their methods of protecting the music industry’s interests. The industry needs an organization that looks after the intellectual property. The downside is that the RIAA has pursued music fans in protecting intellectual property. This is a dirty business and does not have simple solutions. 

Cary Sherman is the CEO ofthe RIAA and has given a talk about “The Music Industry in the Digital Age.” Sherman shared 5 interesting facts about the music industry. The first point is that the industry is now primarily digital.  Secondly, there are new business models: DRM-free music, subscription based, online demand, cloud storage, and digital radio and easy licensing processes for new models. Third, the “long tail” has failed. 80% of releases sold fewer than 100 copies, and 94% of releases sold fewer than 1,000 copies. Forth, illegal downloads have hurt the industry and the RIAA continues to protect the industry’s interests. The RIAA Limewire shutdown has resulted in an increase in digital sales. The fifth point is that it is important to continue enforcing rights of the music industry, develop new markets and business models.

The RIAA mission, at least in part, is “to protect the intellectual property and First Amendment rights of artists and music labels; conduct consumer, industry and technical research; and monitor and review state and federal laws, regulations and policies.”

The RIAA website states that the general mission of the organization is to “support and promote the creative and financial vitality of the major music companies.”

The RIAA offers memberships to corporate members only. They do not offer individual memberships. The additional requirements are that they must be record companies with main offices in the United States. Also, the RIAA is the organization that certifies Gold, Platinum, Multi-Platinum and Diamond sales.