Repost: Open Letter to the RIAA - by Morgan Shillingburg

An Open Letter to the RIAA
by Morgan Shillingburg

Dear RIAA,

I've been seeing your posters around campus saying things like "Illegally downloading copyrighted files is STEALING!" and "Jail House Rock!" on them. While impeccably eye-catching, well laid-out, and amazing at getting your point across, I can't help but think that maybe, just maybe, you're missing something.

Your main argument against illegal music downloading is that it has cut into CD sales. Did you ever stop to think that maybe it is YOU that has crippled your own industry? Hear me out for a second.

Seriously, RIAA, have you turned on the radio anytime recently? Have you heard the "amazing" singles from the musical "artists" whose albums we're supposed to buy? I know it's hard to pick up in print, but the quotation marks used in the last sentence were there for sarcastic effect.

Laffy Taffy. Fergelicious. Bringin' Sexy Back. Don't Cha. This is Why I'm Hot. Milkshake.

Perhaps I'm being too subtle, RIAA. Let's look at some lyrics from the chorus of Akon's hit, "Smack That".

"I feel you creepin', I can see you from my shadow.
Wanna jump up in my Lamborghini Gallardo.
Maybe go to my place and just kick it, like Taebo.
And possibly bend you over.
Look back and watch me
smack that, all on the floor,
smack that, give me some more,
smack that, 'till you get sore
smack that, oooh."

Are you SERIOUS, RIAA? "Kick it, like Taebo?" And you expect us to drop an Andrew Jackson for his album? For the same amount of money, I could spend all day Tuesday watching We Are Marshall, Pursuit of Happiness, Happy Feet, Dream Girls, and Smokin' Aces twice each at Cinema Theatre.

So go ahead, talk about how we're hindering the amount of money your "artists" make. Do you know what the word "art" means? Well, according to Dictionary.com, art is "the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance."

I don't think Akon's masterpiece, "Smack That" is of more than ordinary significance, and I wouldn't use the words "expressive" or "aesthetic" to describe it. Yes, it's catchy, but I think somewhere along the lines of your money-grubbing marketing schemes, you took the "Muse" out of "Music."

Meanwhile, the highest paid musical tour of 2006 was the Rolling Stones, which made $138.5 million from 39 shows. I know, RIAA. I was surprised it wasn't that prodigious virtuoso, Fergie Ferg, either. When was the last time they had a hit?

And, I'm sorry, but it's hard to believe your sob stories of how much we're financially crippling the artists themselves when the great composer Mims has lyrics like the following in his songs:

"I’m in there driving cars
Push them off the lot
I’m into shutting stores down so that I can shop"

Poor, poor Mims. If I download music illegally, he won't be able to shut down stores so he can shop anymore. My heart goes out to you, Mims. Here's my money. No, I think downloading music illegally will require musicians to put out better albums.

And it's kind of funny how you get upset when we don't buy CDs, but when you sign a record deal, you cheat the artists. I know how they work, but how come you don't tell the masses?

Here's what PerformerMag.com has to say about record deals:

"Most major labels still offer a royalty that is a percent of Standard Retail List Price (SRLP), usually ranging from 10-15%, sometimes depending on whether the deal is “all-in” (artist pays producer royalty out of artist’s royalty). Major labels then deduct for packaging expenses, free goods), and other items, and also list a multitude of situations where those royalties will be reduced (i.e. foreign sales, record clubs, etc.) (http://www.performermag.com/IndieVSMaj orContracts.php)."

This means they say you'll pay artists 10-15% of all album sales and then make them pay for a bunch of other stuff. How is this fair?

Not only that, but Janis Ian, a Grammy award-winning songwriter who had a bunch of hits from the 1960s and 1970s explains the following on her website (http://www.janisian.com/article-intern et_debacle.html):

"A label can shelve your project, then extend your contract by one more album because what you turned in was 'commercially or artistically unacceptable'. They alone determine that criteria."

This means you have the musician's wallets and souls in a vice, don't you, RIAA? Funny how this information doesn't get released to the press and never makes your posters. I'd call that propaganda, wouldn't you?

And, according to that same article, America is the only country Ian is aware of that doesn't pay artists royalties for their live performances. What's up with that, RIAA?

Not only THAT, but some of the highest paid musical acts- Dave Matthews Band and Phish- have made their money off of illegal music file sharing. People who hear the illegal versions are more likely to come out to the concerts.

So, how about this, RIAA. Take your posters around campus and shove it. I don't want to see any more of your mind-swindling propaganda. Work for our money. Sign thoughtful poets with instruments who actually have something to say to your labels. Otherwise, the days of singer/songwriters and bands that change people's lives are long gone. D4L's Laffy Taffy is not the "Stairway to Heaven" of our time, no matter how much you want it to be.

Love,
Morgan Shillingburg

XXOO.

PS. Brian Warner once said, “How can America hate something that it created? It's like being mad at your own sh**. You should have eaten something different." I think this quote applies to you.

Oh, and if you don't know who Brian Warner is, look him up. Later, RIAA.

There is much resentment toward the RIAA. They are taking away digital freedoms like recording off the radio and other things, and they encourage DRM or digital rights management by pushing Congress to pass laws forcing innovators of new technologies to intentionally cripple thier products. All this for making an extra buck from the low quality garbage that is passed off as pop music on the airwaves these days. I personally listen to bands like Pillar, Skillet, David Crowder Band and DC Talk, just to name a few.

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