Dana VanDen Heuvel: Sony and RIAA stick heads further up ass

November 18, 2005

Sony and RIAA stick heads further up ass - Didn't Kryptonite teach you anything?

B.L. makes a tidy mention of the Sony clusterfuck that's been a rage in the blogosphere and on NPR lately. Sony, ignoring the online voice for weeks, should have learned from Kryptonite months ago that a 'stick your head up your ass and pray' strategy doesn't work anymore.

I especially like the following flash of brilliance.

But the company's intellectual property concerns have not disappeared. At a music industry conference in San Diego in August 2005, Recording Industry Association of America CEO Mitch Bainwol presented findings by market research firm NPD Group Inc. that suggested ripping songs--copying them to a computer from a CD--and sharing them has come to represent a revenue threat that's at least as significant as illegal peer-to-peer file trading.

via InformationWeek

What kind of 'revenue threat' do you speak of? At least SOMEONE BOUGHT THE DAMN CD you moron, vs. Kazaaing that bad boy from the word go. Tell me, Mitch, where the hell do you think the file swappers go the songs to post online in the first place? And, Mr. Music, how do you think I'm going to get all of my music onto my iPod? It's a rip and burn world man, rip and burn.

Maybe, JUST MAYBE the world is changing a bit, as evidenced by OVER 300 LEGIT online music services spawned in the recent years.

2004 was a landmark year for the growth of digital services. Over 180 legitimate music download services were launched globally in 2004. There are now well over 300 sites in total, with at least 200 in Europe. Music catalogue available on the major services doubled in 2004 to over one million tracks, while subscriber figures now top 2.2 million. Sales of digital music players continue to increase, spurring growth in online music. The launch of 3G services by major operators has given a boost to the download music to mobile market.

via ifpi

Me, I haven't purchased a music CD in almost a year, and I don't plan to ever purchase one again. If I can't get it legit online, I don't get it at all. I know I'm not alone.

While Kryptonite clearly screwed the pooch, I think it was early enough in the blogosphere to state that their mistake was how they reacted. So Kryptonite gets a multi-million dollar hall pass for not looking and learning about who is online talking about their products. Sony has no excuse. Maybe this means their head was already stuck up there? Hmmm, oh, nevermind!