perfidy

Even though the RIAA is Johno's bete noire, I seem to be posting a lot about it lately. That Junior college across the river from MIT must be keeping him extraordinarily busy for him to miss this incredible monument to recording industry hypocrisy.

The wired article details the activities of BigChampagne, a company that creates databases of information on song downloads, sorted by region. It sells that information (at a substantial markup) to the record labels. When a label sees that one of their songs is being played once a week at three in the morning, and in the same market that song is the number ten download on kazaa; they can put the arm on the local radio station to increase its airtime.

On the one hand, this is clever, sensible and good business. BC has found a need in the market for a certain type of information, and it has filled that need. The labels are responding to the actual desires of real customers by trying to get frequently downloaded songs onto the radio. Which will increase their album sales.

On the other hand, it is rank hypocrisy for the labels to be using this information gleaned from file download services to increase their profits while simultaneously extorting $2000 from twelve year olds, and sueing the grandmas who are using those same file download services. Even congressmen, not known for being with it, are saying that, hey, record people, if you keep going like this, people aren't going to like you.

The record industry needs, at the very least, step down its evil to the level of Microsoft, and adopt an "embrace and extend" policy. By using the file trading services, they could (especially in combination with clever ideas like selling cheaper cds) increase profits. And not be quite so evil.