Literature About the Music Industry

The Future of Music Manifesto

This is a must read for anyone concerned with artists’ rights. Here are some highlights:

The RIAA’s Conflict of Interest

“The Recording Industry Association of America is a special interest group that claims from time to time to lobby on behalf of musicians, but it is funded by, and represents the interests of, the major record companies – the same corporations traditionally known to be the primary exploiters of the musicians that the RIAA claims to represent. The RIAA simply cannot be trusted to serve two distinct masters – the record companies and the artists. An important example is the “work for hire” issue: the RIAA pushed legislation that gives major labels the right to own musicians’ master tapes in perpetuity, changing an existing law that allowed some artists to regain the rights to their masters after 35 years. By advocating for this language, even while claiming to have the artists’ interests at heart, the RIAA made it clear that it is compromised, and cannot be left to its own devices in the policy-making arena.” » More

SDMI

“The Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI), spearheaded by the RIAA, was an attempt to pull together a limited group of powerful consumer electronics manufacturers; PC manufacturers, and record labels to develop a copyright-enabled alternative to the MP3 format. It is viewed by many as a misguided and desperate scramble by those in the existing music business monopoly to maintain their stranglehold on the channels of distribution through the application of a standardized encryption or watermarking program.” » More

The Problem With Music

This is another must read in which Steve Albini paints a brutal picture of the music industry:

“[I]magine a faceless industry lackey at the other end holding a fountain pen and a contract waiting to be signed. Nobody can see what’s printed on the contract. It’s too far away, and besides, the shit stench is making everybody’s eyes water.” » More

Major Label Contract Clause Critique

“We’ve all heard the stories criticizing major record label contracts. Anecdotally we understand that many of the deals signed by artists are bad, but what does “bad” mean and just how bad are these deals? More importantly, how exactly are they bad?” » More

“[W]e translated these onerous and confusing contract clauses into PLAIN ENGLISH and paired them with easy-to-understand critiques in the hopes that even those who are completely unfamiliar with the music business can understand the implications that result from signing a standard major label deal.” » More