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Addendum
URL: http://www.adden.tr.cx/
Issue# 80 : Music and the RIAA
6th July 2002
Author: Steak
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Music is wonderful,  it can inspire so many thoughts, feelings and 
emotions, it is what we as a race of semi intelligent individuals have 
been enjoying for centuries and centuries, from the first cave man who 
hit a bone on another bone to make a sound he liked to Beethoven’s ninth, 
music has been enjoyed and celebrated.

However like everything else that is natural and beautiful those bastards 
have raped, pillaged, destroyed, pre packaged it and slapped it on a 
plastic box.

And of course, they want you to pay for it. And if they can't satisfy 
their greed, they get angry, angry and legal.

Which leads me to my next point

I hate the RIAA

What is the RIAA? Well the RIAA stands for "the Recording Industry 
Association of America"

What does it do? It pretends to protect the rights of artists, while 
all the time protecting its own corporate fat cats pockets.

These 'people', along with the record companies are the total scum of 
the universe, they are the rapists and the murderers.

Which leads me to the next item in my ongoing collection of next points. 
If by some freak chance actually work for the RIAA or a record company, 
then bugger off. Don't read any of this, I hate you. I don't care if you 
love me or what I write. You deserve to die, I hate you, you have no 
excuse for what it is you do, you are the total lowest of the low, the 
shitist of the shit. Go and suck a tailpipe.

Why do I hate these people so much?

Because they are rapists of art and beauty, and for what ends, what 
else? Money.

Music should be free; but I understand that this is a little 
unrealistic, but I think that all music should at the most just cost 
the amount that the blank media costs. And if downloaded from the 
Internet, should be 100% free.

Did you know that when you step into a store, and spend that $30 on 
that new CD to get 18 songs, most of which are crap anyway, you are 
giving 80% of that money to the RIAA and the record labels, for 
advertising and labelling.

If you ask me, if music needs advertising to get it through to people, 
then it's not worth much in the first place.

And what happens when music becomes free, through file sharing programs 
or something similar, the RIAA steps in and shuts them down, that’s 
what.

They recently shut down audiogalxy. The best music file sharing 
program ever. This really annoyed me. I could no longer get those 
rare live tracks or b-sides that I wanted. I have to put up with 
Kazza’s shitty selection and bad download speeds.

They say they don't like these file sharing programs because people 
are downloading copyrighted music all the time, and this infringes 
on artists copyright and the artist don't get paid.

This is not true, they don't care about the artists at all they just 
care that they aren’t getting the money that they want. If Moby came 
up to me with a C90 tape full of his new songs and asked me for $6 
for the thing I would buy it from him. If virgin records and the 
RIAA came up to me and asked me for $24 for the box with a nice 
picture of Moby on it and a nice piece of paper saying I had the 
right to own this music, then I would tell them to get stuffed.

They will tell you that if you don't give them your money there will 
be no fresh talent emerging. I personally reckon that with the 
standard of 'fresh talent' that is emerging, (ie Brittany Spears, 
nsync and other ultra sonic crap) I don't think that it would be 
much of a loss.

They will tell you that all this will happen if you use a p2p 
network or burn a music CD. I wish is all I can say, I wish.

We finally had a way to stand up to the record companies and the 
RIAA and say, "I don’t think so, I am not going to spend $30 on a 
CD that’s just crap!"

When a bought my music I felt bad, knowing that now because I 
wanted to listen to said music I was giving most of the money I 
spend on it to the record labels. And I couldn't stand it.

But of course when it comes down to it money is the thing that 
counts, if somebody can make money from something then they will 
try their upmost hardest to do so. Wether it is morally wrong or 
wether it is right, they don't care, because they are getting 
green backs for it. So they are happy.

It’s just a shame that the average music lover doesn't get a say 
in the matter.

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Addendum
(C) Steak July 2002
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