Yes, you read that title correct. When I saw the article on Slashdot, I did a double take. I just couldn’t believe it. This is the same group that is fighting music “piracy” by suing their customers all in the name of protecting the artists, yet they want to reduce royalties, taking money from these same people they’re claiming to protect and putting it into their own pockets.
Not surprisingly, Apple, Yahoo!, and Napster are in on this and also want to reduce royalties. While the article (from the Hollywood Reporter) doesn’t go into great detail, the gist of it seems to be that the digital music retailers believe that the current royalty rates undermine the new business model. This is a bit different than the RIAA’s reasoning, which is that the music publishers’ and songwriters’ wallets are getting a bit too fat. Sounds like the RIAA is jealous and thinks they should have the fatter wallets.
Basically, in my opinion, the question that should be raise is who deserves to get the most money from the music. In my opinion, it’s a no brainer. The people who create the music should get the biggest chunk of that money, followed by the people who perform it, followed by the people who help distribute it, and then the retailers should get their share. The RIAA needs to go and I hope this will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
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