A Look at RIAA

According to its website, “The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is the trade organization that supports and promotes the creative and financial vitality of the major music companies.” Besides having the fun job of certifying top-selling music albums with the coveted “Gold®, Platinum®, Multi-Platinum™ and Diamond” awards, RIAA’s main focus is putting an end to digital music piracy and protecting “the intellectual property and First Amendment rights of artists and music labels” (“For Students Doing Reports,” n.d.). 

For those who illegally download music, you may be thinking how is it really going to hurt the rich and famous artists like Kanye West if I download their albums for free?  Though the piracy of Kayne’s albums may not make too significant of a dent in his individual earnings, we have to think about the bigger picture.  To make those Kanye albums it takes a lot more than the artist himself.  According to RIAA, “audio engineers, computer technicians, talent scouts, marketing specialists, producers, [and] publishers” are just some examples of all the people it takes to finish an album and get it out to the public, and whose jobs are being cut-back with the decline of album sales. Also, opposite the Kanye Wests of the industry, we have to remember the indie artists who are just starting out with almost no budget for their first album, yet decide to pursue their passion and give it everything they have. These new artists aren’t seeing any money at all for their hard work if their music is just downloaded for free. 

Here are some eye-opening piracy statistics from the RIAA website:

-     From 2004 through 2009 alone, approximately 30 billion songs were illegally downloaded on file-sharing networks.

-     Only 37% of music acquired by U.S. consumers in 2009 was paid for.

-     Global music piracy [between both street and online methods] causes $12.5 billion of economic losses every year, 71,060 U.S. jobs lost,  [and] a loss of $2.7 billion in workers' earnings.

RIAA has led the fight against online music piracy by opening numerous lawsuits against companies and individuals stealing music, in order to collect the rightful monies owed to the industry.  With the quick spread of internet data however, they realize that it is impossible to catch all abusers, especially catching all abusers on their own.  The organization has developed a better strategy in recent years by joining forces with major internet service providers, like universities, to spread word of the consequences of illegal downloads and to help catch the big offenders. 

As long as this digital age continues to expand and newer means of illegal music downloading and file-sharing are made possible, RIAA will continue its fight against music theft in order to save the music industry. We can all do our part to help RIAA in its quest by simply paying for the music we listen to.

Reference:

For Students Doing Reports. (n.d.). Retrieved February 24, 2011, from http://www.riaa.com/faq.php

Image:

[riaa logo]. Retrieved February 27, 2011, from http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/04/obama-taps-fift/

Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, Talks About "How to Live Before You Die"

Innovations like iTunes, the iPod and the iPhone, that have made (and are continuing to make) such an impact on the music industry, were all started by a man named Steve Jobs.

Steve Jobs

Although he never graduated from college, Jobs followed the new technology and designs he was passionate about, and in the end walked away as CEO of one of the biggest companies in the world today - Apple (Jobs, 2005). In his spare time, Jobs also founded Pixar Animation Studios where Toy Story, the first computer animated feature film, was created.

In June 2005, Jobs was asked to speak at Stanford University's commencement ceremony. He spoke about his life and gave the graduating students some words of wisdom about "connecting the dots," "love and loss," and even death (Jobs, 2005). Although the speech is almost six years old now, the advise Jobs gives is timeless and can apply to us all, no matter what our chosen industry or profession.

First Jobs (2005) advises that,"you can't connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards." By this he means that you can't foresee exactly how the actions you take now are going to affect you later on in life, you can only look back later to see how those actions turned out. Because you can't predict what will happen later on, you have to trust your gut and not be afraid to take risks now. Or, as Jobs (2005) says, "you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future." If new artists and musicians didn't take risks with their music, we wouldn't have some of the inventive sounds and successful collaborations we hear today. For me personally, if I hadn't left upstate New York and accepted my first professional internship in Florida for the Theme Park Merchandise department of Disney, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to move to the Entertainment sector of the company and work with the great Talent Casting team that I do today.

In the next segment of Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Ceremony speech, he says that "you've got to find what you love," and to "keep looking" and "don't settle" until you find it. Sometimes you'll come upon bumps in the road, just as he did when he was at first fired from Apple after having a falling out with the person hired to originally run the company with him.  This lay-off turned out to be a blessing in disguise however because he realized that despite this setback, he still loved what he did (Jobs, 2005). It was in this time that he decided to start over and developed some other great projects, like a little company called Pixar. Things then came full circle when Apple ended up hiring Jobs back and he resumed his reign as CEO. Jobs knew what he loved and just kept going after it, and so should we. I have a passion for music and a desire to always work in the entertainment industry. Whether it be staying with Talent Casting at Disney, or one day moving on to another career in the music business, I will continue to pursue what I love.

In the last segment of Jobs' 2005 speech, he talks about death. He says, "remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking that you have something to lose." At the time of the speech, Jobs had recently survived pancreatic cancer when it turned out he had a rare form that could actually be cured with an operation. When pondering the initial diagnosis that he only had three to six months to live, he had been face to face with death. He quickly realized that yes, "no one wants to die," but it's a "destination we all share" (Jobs, 2005). Knowing that you will one day die is a powerful thing because it gets you to enjoy what you have today, and to try to always keep living life to the fullest so you are satisfied with what you've accomplished when it's your time to go. Because you have limited time, don't try to live in someone else's mold and do what makes you happy. I know I will.


Reference
Jobs, S. (2005, June). Steve Jobs: How to live before you die. Retrieved February 12, 2011, from http://www.ted.com/talks/steve_jobs_how_to_live_before_you_die.html 

Image source
[Steve Jobs]. Retrieved February 12, 2011, from http://www.allaboutstevejobs.com/pics/life/2007-2009/2007-2009.html