QUOTE(jcarter @ Oct 31 2003, 6:48 PM)
I used to listen to the iTunes a lot, but recently I have noticed that my list of available stations are far fewer than before.
Is it possible this is being phased out?
In a manner of speaking, yes.
To understand what is happening, you must first understand the Recording Industry Association of America, or RIAA.
The RIAA represents all the major labels. Its primary interest is control.
Many people do not know this, but to a large extent, the RIAA tries to control what artists become hits, and what artists do not. The RIAA tells radio stations what music to play--most radio stations do not create their own playlists. The RIAA controls advertising and promotion for bands.
The RIAA opposes both peer-to-peer file trading and Internet radio. It does this not because they lose money by doing it, though the RIAA will claim that this is the case; rather, it's about control.
Why do record labels exist?
That's a deceptively simple question, and it's worth repeating.
Why do record labels exist?Let's say I have a band. I want to cut an album. If I sign a standard recording contract, I will probably never see so much as a
dime from record sales. (Contrary to popular belief, most bands never profit from album sales, unless the album is a huge hit. 100% of the album sales go to the label.)
I only see money from concert tours and ancillary sales (T-shirts and the like).
So why on Earth would I sign with a label? Why do record labels exist?
Record labels exist because in the days of vinyl records, it cost right around $100,000 to cut the master for an album and set up production--
not including studio time, engineering, and other production costs.
Most artists could never afford it. Most artists, unless they were already wealthy, could never hope to shell out the $100 grand it'd cost to produce a record, much less the cost to warehouse it, distribute it, and so on. They NEEDED to have a record label. Only the label could afford the up-front cost of releasing an album.
Enter the age of the compact disc. It costs about $1,000 to master and produce a CD, complete with cover art, jewel box, and the whole kit. CD production costs about 37 cents apiece in quantity. These costs are easily within the grasp of most people; you do not need the financial capital of a record label in order to produce your own album.
But nobody will BUY the album if they don't
know about the album.
So you are still stuck. You have to sign with a record label, because the record labels control what gets distributed in stores and what gets played on the radio.
Enter the Internet. With MP3s and internet radio, now you can make your own CD, AND you can market it, and reach a huge audience...in fact, it is possible for an average person, with no financial clout behind him and only average resources, to record an album, master the album, promote the album, and get it out to listeners--
without the record labels![/i]
THAT is what it's about. That is what terrifies the labels.
The labels, in a world of Internet radio and MP3 downloads, are no longer necessary. No more yachts. No more private jets. No more $500,000 houses for their mistresses.
So the record labels fought back. They have been hard at work shutting down internet radio stations, by getting Congress to pass a law requiring that Internet radio stations pay a "royalty fee' to the RIAA, or stop broadcasting. While this fee is only a few thousand dollars, most internet radio stations are run out of a closet by someone not making one cent from them, so the cost is absolutely prohibitive. When faced with a choice--Pay us a few thousand dollars, or shut down--mant small Internet radio stations shut down.
The ones left are more easily controlled. They are larger, and some of them are for-profit. Because of that, the RIAA can go to them and say "We will waive your royalty fees, if you agree to play the songs we tell you to play."
It's about control. Nothing more, nothing less. Ultimately, the goal of the RIAA is to make sure that you never, ever listen to a single song unless they approved it and picked it first.
