Recording Industry Association of America

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"RIAA" redirects here. For RIAA equalization, see RIAA equalization.
The RIAA Logo.
The RIAA Logo.

The Recording Industry Association of America (or RIAA) is a trade group that represents the major labels of the recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of a large number of private corporate entities such as record labels and distributors, which the RIAA claims "create, manufacture and/or distribute approximately 90% of all legitimate sound recordings produced and sold in the United States".[1][2]

The RIAA was formed in 1952 primarily to administer the RIAA equalization curve, a technical standard of frequency response applied to vinyl records during manufacturing and playback. The RIAA has continued to participate in creating and administering technical standards for later systems of music recording and reproduction, including magnetic tape (including cassette tapes and digital audio tapes), CDs and software-based digital technologies. Like many online stalkers (such as Pedophiles), the RIAA frequently attempts to track and locate many underaged American youth, usually those who have been convicted of breaking one or more copyright laws.


The RIAA also participates in the collection, administration and distribution of music licenses and royalties.

The association is responsible for certifying gold and platinum albums and singles in the USA. For more information about sales data see List of best selling albums and List of best selling singles.

The RIAA's stated goals[1] are:

  1. to protect intellectual property rights worldwide and the First Amendment rights of artists;
  2. to perform research about the music industry;
  3. to monitor and review relevant laws, regulations and policies.

Contents

[edit] Company structure and Sales

As of April 2007, the RIAA is led by Mitch Bainwol, who has been Chairman and CEO since 2003. He is assisted by Cary Sherman, the President of the Board of Directors. The board of directors consists of 26 members of the board, drawn mostly from the big four members of the RIAA.[3]

The RIAA claims to represent over 1,600 member labels, which are private corporate entities such as record labels and distributors, and which collectively create and distribute about 90% of recorded music sold in the US. The largest and most influential of the members are the "Big Four":

The total annual net income from members of the RIAA is reported to be $11.5 billion[4], reflecting a decline since a high of $14.5 billion in 1996.

[edit] Sales certification

Main article: RIAA certification

The RIAA operates an award program for albums which sell a large number of copies.[5] The program originally began in 1958, with a Gold Award for singles and albums which reach US$1 million sales. The criteria was changed in 1975 to be based on the number of copies sold, with singles and albums selling 500,000 copies awarded the Gold Award. In 1976, a Platinum Award was added for one million sales, and in 1999 a Diamond Award for ten million sales. The awards are open to both RIAA members and non-members.[6]

The RIAA also operates a similar program for Spanish language music sales, called Los Premios Awards.

[edit] “Digital” sales certification

In 2004, the RIAA added a branch of certification for what it inexplicably calls “digital” recordings, meaning roughly “recordings transferred to the recipient over a network” (such as those sold via the iTunes Store), and excluding other obviously-digital media such as those on CD, DAT, or MiniDiscs. In 2006, “digital ringtones” were added to this branch of certification. As of 2007, the certification criteria for these recordings are as follows:

  • Silver: 100,000
  • Gold: 500,000
  • Platinum: 1,000,000
  • Multi-Platinum: 2,000,000 (recertified at each million-unit interval)
  • Diamond: 10,000,000

[edit] Music Video Longform [sic] certification

Along with albums, digital albums, and singles there is another classification of music release called "Music Video Longform." This style includes live albums, compilation albums, and greatest hits albums. The certification criteria is slightly different from other styles.[7]

  • Gold: 50,000
  • Platinum: 100,000

[edit] Efforts against copyright infringement

[edit] Stance on home recording

See also: Audio Home Recording Act and Private copying levy

The RIAA has asserted apparently contradictory positions both for and against home recording, such as transferring the contents of music CDs to portable players or making backup copies of music CDs.

In 2005 argument before the Supreme Court in MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd., counsel for the RIAA stated that "it's perfectly lawful to take a CD that you've purchased, upload it onto your computer, put it onto your iPod."

In 2006, the RIAA appeared to reverse its position, claiming that copying the contents of CDs or backing them up does not constitute fair use, because recordings transferred from CDs do not maintain controversial Digital Rights Management (DRM) to prevent the music file from being copied, and are therefore infringing under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, even though audio CDs (formally Compact Disc Digital Audio), by definition, have no DRM. They argue that there is no evidence that any of the relevant media are "unusually subject to damage" and that "even if CDs do become damaged, replacements are readily available at affordable prices."[8]

[edit] Efforts against file sharing

Main article: Trade group efforts against file sharing

The RIAA opposes unauthorized file sharing of its music. It has commenced high profile lawsuits against file sharing service providers. It has also commenced a controversial series of lawsuits against individuals suspected of file sharing, notably college students and parents of file sharing children. It is accused of employing techniques such as peer-to-peer network pollution to combat file sharing.

[edit] Lawsuits against other recording, distribution, and search technologies

In October 1998, the Recording Industry Association of America filed a lawsuit in the Ninth U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco claiming the Diamond Multimedia Rio PMP300 player violated the 1992 Audio Home Recording Act. The Rio PMP300 was significant because it was the second portable consumer MP3 digital audio player released on the market. The three judge panel ruled in favor of Diamond, paving the way for the development of the portable digital player market.[9]

RIAA has also filed suit in 2006 to enjoin digital XM Satellite Radio from enabling its subscribers from playing songs it has recorded from its satellite broadcasts.[10] It is also suing several Internet radio stations.[11]

On December 21, 2006, the RIAA filed a lawsuit against Russian owned and operated website AllOfMP3.com in the amount of $1.65 trillion ($1,650,000,000,000). This number was derived from multiplying 11 million songs with statutory damages of $150,000 per song. The Moscow court ruled in favor of AllOfMP3.com[12]

On April 28, 2008, RIAA member labels sued Project Playlist, a web music search site, claiming their copyrights are infringed by the site's index of links. Project Playlist's website denies that any of the music is hosted on Project Playlist's own servers.

[edit] Legislation

The RIAA has supported and still supports several pieces of legislation in the United States which it believes help it to prevent copyright infringement. This legislation includes the proposed Digital Content Protection Act of 2006, which is being considered by the United States Senate. According to PublicKnowledge[13] and the EFF,[14] this would prevent new ways to use media content, and could prevent customers from recording music, even if covered by fair use. This would effectively create a radio broadcast flag rule. The RIAA has supported legislation in the past which also attempted to introduce a radio broadcast flag.

[edit] Artists’ opinions

The role of the RIAA in the music industry is often questioned by many people, including some of the artists the RIAA claims to be protecting. The matter is increasingly controversial, especially among students and musicians themselves. It is often argued that by making the music easily acquired, more people are apt to listen, thus creating a larger mass of fans. By increasing the number of listeners, things such as concert tickets, shirts, and other such marketing products and events are bought. A more substantial fanbase does, in the long run, make an artist even more financially stable.

[edit] The "Work Made for Hire" controversy

In 1999, Stanley M. Glazier, a Congressional staff attorney, inserted, without public notice or comment, substantive language into the final markup of a "technical corrections" section of copyright legislation, classifying many music recordings as "works made for hire," thereby stripping artists of their copyright interests and transferring those interests to their record labels.[15] Shortly afterwards, Glazier was hired as Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Legislative Counsel for the RIAA, which vigorously defended the change when it came to light. The battle over the disputed provision led to the formation of the Recording Artists' Coalition, which successfully lobbied for repeal of the change.

[edit] Cultural references

  • "Weird Al" Yankovic's single "Don't Download This Song" satirizes the RIAA's lawsuits against copyright infringers.
  • The March 4, 2007 FoxTrot strip also satirized the RIAA's lawsuits, where Jason tried to teach his iguana Quincy to download music, because "it's one thing for them to go after single moms, widows, grandmothers, dead people and children... but sue an iguana?! That'd be insane!"[16]
  • The Machinae Supremacy song "Legion of Stoopid" refers to the company as the "Recording Industry Assholes of America".
  • MC Lars's single "Download This Song" criticized the RIAA and the music industry in general, mentioning the RIAA's lawsuits against "little kids downloading hit songs."
  • Billy Joel said in an interview that his first album Cold Spring Harbor wasn't worth the money to buy, and urges people to steal it if they can manage it.
  • After being asked to compose a Christmas Song safe for download Jonathan Coulton released 'Podsafe Christmas Song' which contained the lyrics "Don't think us rude, we don't want to get sued/ by the thugs at the RIAA"
  • Popular among internet memes is the term "Fuck the RIAA!"
  • After the Release of the album "Year Zero", Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails told fans in Australia during tour to, "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’s not right."

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Who We Are. RIAA.
  2. ^ p2pnet. p2pnet.net.
  3. ^ Board of the RIAA (RIAA website)
  4. ^ [1] (RIAA website)
  5. ^ RIAA Website. Gold and Platinum (Index).
  6. ^ RIAA Website. Gold and Platinum Certification.
  7. ^ Billboard.com Latest Video Longform Certifications Retrieved on May 14, 2008
  8. ^ RIAA Says Ripping CDs to Your iPod is NOT Fair Use, EFF Deep Links, 15 February 2006
  9. ^ Court OKs Diamond Rio MP3 Player, by Elizabeth Clampet, InternetNews.Com, 16 June 1999
  10. ^ XM Faces The Music In RIAA Copyright Suit, by Joseph Palenchar, TWICE, 22 May 2006
  11. ^ RIAA sues Internet radio stations, Out-Law.com, July 2001
  12. ^ ALLOFMP3. Digital music., Allofmp3.com, November 05, 2007
  13. ^ "New and Improved" Draft Broadcast Flag Bill: This Time for TV and Radio, by Alex Curtis, PublicKnowledge, 20 January 2006
  14. ^ New Senate Broadcast Flag Bill Would Freeze Fair Use, EFF Deep Links, 20 January, 2006
  15. ^ Wired. Rule Reversal: Blame It on RIAA. Retrieved on 2007-04-09.
  16. ^ FoxTrot comic from March 4, 2007

[edit] External links