Al's been pressuring me to write an article for the Biz Tips section of our website. I think he has an article on songwriting in mind. Maybe I'll get to that, but for now, I just want to express my thoughts on the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Aaaak! It doesn't take much to upset me these days. Just say "RIAA" and my blood pressure rises. Why don't people get it? Might I suggest you go to the RIAA site and read up on "Who We Are" in their "about us" category.

Here, let me save you the trouble. A quote directly from www.riaa.com:

"The Recording Industry Association of America is the trade group that represents the U.S. recording industry. Its mission is to foster a business and legal climate that supports and promotes our members' creative and financial vitality. Its members are the record companies that comprise the most vibrant national music industry in the world. RIAA® members create, manufacture and/or distribute approximately 90% of all legitimate sound recordings produced and sold in the United States."

Who are its members? Oh, I see. It states right there in writing. "Its members are the record companies that comprise the most vibrant national music industry in the world". And the mission of the RIAA is to "foster a business and legal climate that supports and promotes our members' creative and financial vitality"?

Did I read that correctly? So am I understanding that the members are the small handful of major record labels that have a choke-hold on all of the entertainment industry…and the mission of the RIAA is to "support and promote the creative and financial vitality" of those major labels? Gee, that sounds rather self-serving to me. While one might expect an entity like RIAA to have it's own agenda and interests at heart, it's still disappointing when others, like the copyright office and congress, fail to see through their act. And if it weren't so sad, it would almost be comical that the industry big guns with their history of dubious bookkeeping, royalty shaving and payola, now try to claim the moral high ground.

And how is it that this small group of companies can "create, manufacture and distribute 90% of all legitimate sound recordings produced and sold in the United States?" Could it be because they pretty much control what CDs are distributed to retailers because those companies also own all the major distribution companies? And could it also be that they pretty much control what music the public gets to hear on syndicated radio?

Yes, we all thought there were laws protecting against such things. True, a record company would be breaking the law to pay a radio station to play certain songs by certain artists. That would be payola. They don't do that anymore. My understanding is that they now pay 'personal agents' of their artists to pay the radio stations to play certain songs by the certain artists. That seems to legally squeak by.

Hey, and what about the other 10% of all legitimate sound recordings produced and sold in the United States? The RIAA doesn't mention that that other 10% of recordings makes up 95% of the music being created. The 90% that the major companies produce and sell is actually only about 5% of all the music that's out there. There is a lot of really great music out there. You can easily find it on the Internet. Just do a search for "Independent Music". Or visit JunoBeach.com, or CDBaby.com, or check out the music here at OutboundMusic.com.

So why is the RIAA (remember the RIAA's members are the major record companies) raising such a stink about music on the Internet? Could it be that they have not yet been able to take control of that media? Could it be that they want to position themselves to take control of that media? They seem to be aggressively lobbying themselves into that position.

Let me pause here to tell you how I feel about the theft of music.

I despise the theft of music. I'm all in favor of songwriters and artists being fully compensated for their creative work. I think piracy is a serious crime and should be dealt with as such. The Internet has allowed for the theft of music by illegal downloading. A solution to this problem is needed.

But how will artists and songwriters really benefit from the lobbying efforts of the RIAA? Well, one might surmise that that 5% of all artists who are represented by a major label would benefit. But what does a major label really do for an artist? My take…they insist on extremely high-budget productions and other high-budget expenses (which are recouped from artists' royalties), they typically offer artists meager royalties of from 8% to 12% of record sales (at a wholesale rate), and they are likely to drop an artist at a moment's notice. Oh yes, and the artist may get his or her 15 minutes of fame. So, if this is what the major labels already do for artists, how do I expect their artists to benefit from all this lobbying? I fear that once again, the record labels are the ones who will benefit the most, not the artists, and not the songwriters.

Well, for the other 95% of artists who are not signed to a major label, how will they benefit from all this lobbying? My take…they won't. In fact, if the RIAA has their way, Internet sites that broadcast the music of these independent artists will be faced with hefty RIAA licensing fees…fees that these small, independent companies won't be able to afford.

So with small indie artist broadcast sites folding, only well-financed broadcasters will remain. Certainly any Internet broadcast affiliated with one of the five major record labels will be sufficiently funded for such operation.

What will happen to the other 95% of artists and songwriters then? The performing rights organizations (ASCAP, BMI and SESAC) have always worked unselfishly for the benefit of all their members. I hope they will continue to work on solutions to the very serious Internet piracy issues with consideration of RIAA's bias.

But the bottom line is this…What happens to artists and songwriters and to the future of music is up to you. Let your voice be heard. Write your congressman. Remind him or her that the RIAA truly represents only 5% of the artists producing music today. There are better solutions to Internet piracy than those proposed by this lobbying group.