The Lie:
The Recording Industry Association of American sued Jammie Thomas of Minnesota for allegedly sharing 1,702 songs through the Kazaa network. The RIAA claims millions of dollars of revenue are lost each year due to piracy through filesharing networks.

The Truth:
The recording industry is one of the scummiest and sleaziest businesses in the world. The RIAA claim musicians are losing money because people are sharing their songs (intellectual property) online. The truth is todays musicians are losing money because the majority of them are ignorant kids with little or no talent who are being scammed by the industry “pecking order”. For the most part, the pop music business of today is littered with flunkies from the urban ghettos who don’t know how to read on a third grade level much less read and comprehend a business contract. Today’s “stars” are only interested in the glitter and glamour of the game and fail to realize that they are the last link and the bottom feeders on the food chain. Following the money trail is easy, the artist (and I use that term loosely) managment takes the first cut of any profits, followed by the producer, that’s if there is any profit left after the record company, distribution company and retailers have taken their cut. This is all after paying for the production, manufacturing and packaging costs. In the Lisa Lopes documentary following the last days of her life, The Last Days of Left Eye, the former rapper who was a member of the group TLC explained how it was possible for a group to sell 31 million albums worldwide and still be broke.

Traditionally album sales are not a source of profit for the artists as much as they are for the record company. Touring and live performances help promote album sales but selling out shows helps put real money in the artists pockets. Merchandising such as selling t-shirts, posters and other memorabilia is another lucrative endeavour for the artists but in order to sell out shows and sell merchandise an artist has to have some sort of recognition gaind through promotion. In reality, people sharing files through peer to peer networks only increases an artists viability thus increasing the sources of true revenue for the artist but sadly, the record company and the slimebags associated with it are left out.

As the cost of manufacturing and packaging CD’s has dropped, the price of CD’s has risen. At a recent Nine Inch Nails concert (video here), frontman Trent Reznor said to fans: “Has anyone seen the price come down? Okay, well, you know what that means - STEAL IT. Steal away. Steal and steal and steal some more and give it to all your friends and keep on stealin’. Because one way or another these motherfuckers will get it through their head that they’re ripping people off and that that’s not right.”