I love it when I hear bands bypassing traditional distribution channels and distributing music on their own. Radiohead and Oasis are doing just that because of all the crap from the recording industry.
I think the RIAA is shooting themselves in the foot. Instead of trying to fix the problem the right way, they're causing more damage. Just as how our wonderful (cough, cough) president and congress keep screwing things up, so is the RIAA.
Times change, technology changes. The vast majority of us have "graduated" from vinyl records to MP3s for one reason or another. The Internet has changed our lives so much that that any other way of doing things is now considered "old school". While I still like physical media, many people have done away with it and like the convience of portable digital media.
The RIAA is blaming the lack of CD sales on people pirating MP3s. While this is somewhat the case, I think the major reason is that the mainstream recording industry is releasing CRAP instead of quality products.
Getting back on track - publishing companies prosecute businesses all the time because they don't have the proper licenses (ASCAP, BMI, etc.) to play music in their business. Even just a small radio - as long as its considered a "public performance", you need to pay a license.
My opinion - WHAT A BUNCH OF BULLCRAP! Again, this goes to the "shooting yourself in the foot" philosophy. Why on Earth are they trying to UNpromote artists is beyond me? Shouldn't this be considered free advertisement instead?
I fully understand bands who cover other people's work need to pay performance fees (e.g. the All-Star Jam). But just playing a damn radio in public requires you to pay a license fee? I'm still trying to figure out the logic in that.
