rotten bananas

David Hughes (Senior VP of Technology, RIAA) spoke at Arizona State University on the state of the music business.

David’s argument was basically that we should feel sorry for the fact that his business is quickly becoming irrelevant and they don’t know how to change. It’s expensive to find new artists and they’re releasing bad music because they know it’ll sell and it’s expensive to change a business model.

Are you serious? The music industry has been changing since its conception. It’s managed to evolve through several different media types. It’s survived all the different phases that America’s musical tastes have advanced through. Hell, it even survived disco. Now, suddenly, they’re unable to adapt. Well I have two things to say about this.

Firstly, screw off. We don’t need the RIAA. Music is a huge part of every culture, and it’s not going to disappear with the dissolution of the RIAA.

Second, let’s look at what’s changed. Now, the first time that change has become a problem, the RIAA is focusing a whole lot of effort on suing its customers. Hmmm… good strategy? All moral and legal issues aside, what are they accomplishing? Maybe if they spent more time on altering that elusive business model instead of pissing everybody off, they’d get somewhere.

And releasing bad product just because you know people will buy it? People have been paying for crappy music since wheels were made of stone. That’s a different issue though. There is good music out there. Record companies just take so much control and impose so many rules, that independent labels are getting first dibs on many of them. The majority of the bands that go to big labels are just spewing out crap to get famous.

The point is that the inability to change is not an option. It’s not an excuse for practicing poor business, it’s a cause of your demise. If they think that they can just throw in the towel and continue to provide the market with crappy product (be it in music quality or on overpriced plastic discs), the world will replace them with an organization more capable.

If you read the full article, it sounds as if David was really stickin it to the general public, blaming us for their blemishes. Well I say good. Great. Go away. Stop hassling your customers. Stop releasing phase after phase of washed up Britney Spears clone #44 and cookie cutter Three Days Grace-esque ensemble #23. Fade away, sooner rather than later, and let someone else willing and capable to give us what we want. I work hard for my money. Give me a good reason to spend it.