Even touring has gotten harder what with venue insurance costs, etc. Ticket prices went up in support of that and then as that continued to skyrocket in came corporate sponsorship and big artists became corporate shills. Yeah it’s turned into an ugly business unless you stayed independent.

The radio stations, and theaters, arenas, etc. all pay fees to NASCAP and BMI for the right to play recorded music. Supposedly this money makes its way back to the artists and recording companies.

The RIAA doesn’t really represent the artists, they represent the “recording industry” meaning the big 6 record companies. They are trying to “recapture” what they view as revenue lost to theft. And let’s be honest – much as we all dislike the RIAA and the greedy record companies, at the end of the day it is still theft if you take a recording without paying for it.

I still basically agree with you Wayne – a better model has to come out of this. Digital music, in whatever form, can’t continue to viewed as the “enemy” of artists. It is simply one of a number of communications methods – nothing more.

Steve Jobs broke open the digital vaults by getting all of the big 6 record companies to agree to sell digital music. That was huge, but the price we paid was DRM. Now that is slowly going away, but nothing has really back-filled for those protections or the perceived “lost” revenues, hence the RIAA strong-arming more people.

How do we resolve this? I don’t think totally relying on touring is going to work because of the increasing costs of touring, especially insurance, and trying to find corporate sponsorship (which carries it’s own burdens). I’ve heard suggestions of taxing broadband connections, further fees imposed on blank CDs and DVDs and storage cards, and a variety of other mechanisms to get someone to pay. What suggestions do you guys have and how do you make it fair?

That is the way it has been since the beginning. Terrestrial radio stations have never paid royalties, they were “promoting” the band. They even received payola to feature certain bands. The music business is totally broken now, they need to do some radical re-thinking. I don’t know how they are going to do it, but when your major revenue stream comes from government interference in business, it can’t be good…..

The big problem is that when you slice through the technology – they make their living off someone elses work.

Long term music probably has to progress to the point of where songs are considered commercials for bands – and money is made in other ways – licensing to film/tv and touring.

Aren’t we already seeing the impact of file sharing in the price of concert tickets? It wasn’t so long ago when I was in college and the price of a ticket to the Police was $20 (which we considered abnormally high). Now $100 per ticket is passe (though the highest prices seem only to stick for established bands).

If I were in a band, I would absolutely hate that instead of collecting royalties I were forced to constantly tour away from home.

Unfortunately I think this is the new model.

If they ever succeed in taxing broadband connections so that a portion goes to the music industry I think that will be a big mistake because you’ll see every “affected” interest group (think travel agents, software companies, book publishers, movie studios) come out of the woodwork looking for a tax of their own.

I think it’s a great idea for up and coming bands and stuff, but if established artists aren’t getting paid the royalties they’re due, then it’s understandable that the RIAA want to get it sorted out.