The lunacy continues. The RIAA is requesting that artists’ royalties be *reduced* because they are making too much money! The RIAA president is quoted as saying “Mechanical royalties currently are out of whack with historical and international rates…We hope the judges will restore the proper balance by reducing the rate and moving to a more flexible percentage rate structure so that record companies can continue to create the sound recordings that drive revenues for music publishers.”

You can find more at http://au.gear.ign.com/articles/749/749883p1.html and http://www.tuaw.com/2006/12/08/riaa-petitions-for-lower-artist-royalties/2#c2885903.

This is insulting. When reading the excerpts from the petition it is difficult to keep from laughing at the sheer lunacy of the whole thing.

I wonder what is coming next…

It’s been a crazy summer, but things may settle down enough this Fall that I can get back to writing…I hope.

Mike

This used to be one of my favorite blogs… are you thinking about coming back to updating regularly?

DRM lunacy indeed.

I saw this earlier and began thinking how hard it’s going to be for these guys to implement their schemes. Tech is advancing too quickly for content-slingers to keep up with. Newere chips will make on the fly decoding just that much easier.

If anything, they’re going to be forced to change their business model to fit the reality of computer/digital tech. My bet is that they’ll move toward less big-budget risks and move toward more fast-paced serial models.

DVDs are even becoming risky– everything is riding on one title. It takes time for the next expensive-to-produce title to come about, so the risk is amplified because it’s hit or miss, then wait… hit or miss, then wait. With quicker, less costly shows/movies that are still high-budget looking, the risks decline, as they can be made up in a week or two, or even less. Notice the strength of shows like 24 and Lost? These would translate well in movie serials. An example is in Spanish-speaking telenovelas– they have a finite run, last a while with great popularity, then die, only to be replaced immediately with the next one.

Thanks for the time. Sorry so long.