Anyone Avoid Purchasing Stuff from RIAA Labels?

[corbet]

I have a deep passion for music. I absolutely love it. Sadly it pains me when I see some of my favorite bands on labels that are part of the RIAA. I flat out refuse to support them in terms of CD/Vinyl/ect. unless I buy it directly from them. One record label I absolutely love is Tooth & Nail / Solid State. Sadly I refuse to support to buy anything from them being part of EMI.

Does anyone else avoid purchasing stuff from labels in the RIAA? I know alot of people could care less but I feel strongly regarding the RIAA and I refuse to support them in any way. I'm actually not buying the Norma Jean Boxed Set due to it. I'm also curious how much money goes to the artists when it comes to records. Is it any different then CDs in stores?

Lastly, here are a few non-RIAA labels and bands I recommend you support!

Equal Vision-

-Coheed & Cambria

-Circa Survive

-Chiodos

-Fear Before the March of Flames

-Fall of Troy

Saddle Creek-

-Cursive

-Bright Eyes

Ferret Records-

-Every Time I Die

Suicide Squeeze-

-Minus the Bear

Metropolis Records-

-Mindless Self Indulgence

Vagrant-

-Dashboard Confessional

-Thrice

-Alexisonfire

-The Bled

-Senses Fail

-Saves the Day

...And, if you're interested if some of your favorite bands are not part of the RIAA, check out http://www.riaaradar.com/

[Guest falloutcollapse]

Everyone go download some sort of collection of Circa Survive music. Preferably Juturna.

Edit: Vagrant is also non-RIAA.

[corbet]

^^Yes, please do. Anthony Green is my hero and the band actually told people to go out and download their CDs if you can't afford them. And if you can, BUY THEM!

[hickey]

The RIAA is a necessary evil. I refuse to not buy music I like because of the bureaucracy behind it. Yeah, a lot of bands get a shitty deal, but they should read the fine print before signing on the dotted line. I'm all for indie and non-RIAA labels, but I also think it's short-sighted to not buy a band's work simply because of some of the practices of the labels that put it out. By that logic, Springsteen fans would have to boycott buying his new album, or the majority of his back catalog. I am not a huge fan of The Boss, but his music has done a lot of great things for a lot of people ... to piss that away because of the label he's affiliated with is just plain silly.

[corbet]

^^While I agree, arn't there others ways to support a musician? Do you really think artists would be against a fan downloading their albums but paying for concerts and picking up a t-shirt or whatever? Everyone knows artists make nothing when it comes to CDs and the revenue is in the $80 concert tickets people like Springsteen can charge.

[flicker]

here we go....

[hickey]

^^While I agree, arn't there others ways to support a musician? Do you really think artists would be against a fan downloading their albums but paying for concerts and picking up a t-shirt or whatever? Everyone knows artists make nothing when it comes to CDs and the revenue is in the $80 concert tickets people like Springsteen can charge.

There are people out there who can't afford or can't logistically make it to concerts/shows and spend money on tickets and merch. A CD is an affordable, for most, medium to enjoy an artist's music.

I'm not saying what's right or wrong, I'm just saying not buying the music for that sole reason is a bit short-sighted. To me it's not such a clear cut issue. And there are a lot of artists that are on non-RIAA labels that have a pretty bum deal too and make little to no money off of CDs and records.

[Guest falloutcollapse]

I have no problem buying music. I used to love buying CD's, and more recently, vinyl. The only problem is that, most of the bands I like don't press vinyl. The ones that do are completely out of print, making it impossible to find copies, even if they were pressed in large quantity. I don't want to buy a CD of a band that I have no clue about, so I download it. If it's great, I'll pick up the record now. Prime example is Weatherbox. I heard about them, and I wanted to check them out. I love it, and Scott said they're pressing it on vinyl. I am 100% certain I'm going to buy it.

[steventangent]

RIAA label = automatically evil

Independent label = automatically good

is a huge fallacy.

[corbet]

^^ I agree somewhat. Of course not every independent label is good, but I'd wager to say that RIAA does automatically mean they're evil. If you're a part of the RIAA you pay some type of fees and they also sue on your behalf. Hell, I'd be all for the RIAA if they actually gave the money made due to lawsuits to the artists. Do they? No, it goes back to the lawyers or fed back into suing more people.

[thedeclinehc]

to not buy a band that you like's record because they're on an RIAA label is just plain stupid. Sure the RIAA is a bunch of bullshit but think of it this way.... Record sales keep the artist out of the millions of dollars of debt they get put into by being on the label... if nobody bought it, thats completely fucking them over.

[skumbucket]

unresolvable issue what?

[corbet]

to not buy a band that you like's record because they're on an RIAA label is just plain stupid. Sure the RIAA is a bunch of bullshit but think of it this way.... Record sales keep the artist out of the millions of dollars of debt they get put into by being on the label... if nobody bought it, thats completely fucking them over.

I... don't understand? The artists I listen to are lucky to make to sell 300,000 copies of their CDs, maybe even less. And last I heard none of them are in millions of dollars in debt.

[faith]

epitaph (hellcat), fat wreck, dare to care

all safe. sweet

[hickey]

The new Against Me album is RIAA affiliated.

Corbet, do you have a record list?

[flood]

asbestos is totally RIAA all the way.. wheres my oink lawsuit check?

[skumbucket]

there hasn't been an oink lawsuit yet...

[flood]

sarcasm travels slowly on the interweb

[skumbucket]

ooh, just showed up! well-used!

[corbet]

The new Against Me album is RIAA affiliated.

Corbet, do you have a record list?

Not really but I can list them. It's short...

-Bear vs. Shark - Right Now... (Equal Vision, safe)

-Bear vs. Shark - Terrorhawk... (Equal Vision, safe)

-MewithoutYou - Brother, Sister (Tooth & Nail... not safe, but bought at their show)

-Murder by Death - In Bocco El Lupo (Tent Show, RIAA Warning but bought at the show anyways)

Now granted, I do have some CDs purchased from way back when that are part of RIAA labels. And in all honesty, I probably will buy RIAA records here and there, but I when I think about purchasing a record I will look to see if it supports the RIAA or not.

[steventangent]

Tent Show is Murder By Death's label. Like.... it's theirs. It's "kind of" an imprint of EastWest, which is owned by Warner.

edit : and like seriously, what difference would it make if you bought "unsafe" records at the show?

Do you think it automatically means the bands get 100% of the profit?

[Guest falloutcollapse]

\

edit : and like seriously, what difference would it make if you bought "unsafe" records at the show?

Do you think it automatically means the bands get 100% of the profit?

Very very good point.

[adamlikesmusic]

If I like music, I'll buy it. If a band signs to a label that is affiliated with the RIAA, they obviously have no problem with it - so what's the big deal?

[steventangent]

\

edit : and like seriously, what difference would it make if you bought "unsafe" records at the show?

Do you think it automatically means the bands get 100% of the profit?

Very very good point.

I didn't mean for that to just come off rhetorically, though... because the way I see it, bands often buy x number of CDs/whatever wholesale from their label/distributor, and sell those on tour. The label is still getting theirs, it's just the "middleman" - the retailer - that's cut out.

for example, The Grundies are on Pottybutt Records, and they buy x number of CDs for $10 and sell them on tour for $15. They're getting back $5 per cd (which helps cover day-to-day costs of touring) and recovering what they already paid the label, or are soon going to be billed for - money that goes toward recouping, or if they've already done that, their royalty.

Otherwise, you may go to some big box retailer called Computer Shit -n- More and buy the same CD for $15. The Grundies will still get their royalty or recoup, and if you see them on tour, you buy one of their ugly ass black t-shirts instead of the CD and they get the markup from that.

The thing that remains the same in both scenarios is that the label got theirs. It's just where the rest of the money goes that counts.

Of course, this is really oversimplifying, because sometimes venues/promoters get a cut of merch, and bla bla bla..... but I still don't see how buying from the band direct at a show necessarily stops any more money from going to the RIAA or helps any more go to the band.

[corbet]

^^ A few points.

-Oh I know buying it from the artist doesn't stop any money from going to the RIAA, I just know that the band is actually getting a bigger cut compared to buying it through a store or whatever. I think it DOES help the band more because they get more money then if I purchased it in stores. In a perfect world (my perfect world, anyways), the band would get 100% of the profit with no middleman. Granted, this doesn't happen, but it could with the whole "donating/paying to download a band's music," which is happening more nowadays. I honestly think donating/paying to download an artist's work will be the new way to distribute music and I whole heartily support it.

-Regarding t-shirts, why would the label get a cut? I mean, I always assumed that the label only got a cut in the actual music, which the label downright owns if it gets put out on CD. I always thought bands themselves decided on t-shirts and sold them and the label really had nothing to do with it.