Vote with your dollar! It's the only political power you actually have.

Sounds good to me. Let's mess with the MPAA while we're at it, too.

Our company is a digital distributor for various digital music stores. And while I agree with your sentiment towards the RIAA, just to be clear, when a consumer purchases an album from eMusic, our artists and labels only receive around .29 cents per song compared to about .65 cents from a store such as iTunes or Rhapsody (And believe me, we hate the DRM too).

The best idea is to purchase the physical CD from the artist at a concert so they are guaranteed the highest amount possible.

Caleb Carruth
Catapult Digital Distribution
www.catapultdistribution.com

so... pirate more? i like it.

I am sending the link for this story to everyone I know.

I like, but why stop at March -- dont buy anything RIAA labeled ever again is what I say.

This will only work if you write to the RIAA and the media. If we do this and it affects their profits for one month, it wouldn't be such a big deal. But if we do this and the media is backing us, that is something they can't afford to lose.

I am boycotting music in general for March.

Why is Fall Out Boy still playing?!

Month? I haven't bought an album in years.

/and the last album I bought was ooooold (Bootsy Collins).

@gsxrboy: Yes, we need to be vocal about this and let them know why their profits are down.

This is a great idea. I hate those RIAA bullies.

I would like to also point out archive.org and Jamendo, where you can download loads of public domain and Creative Commons-licensed recordings.

hell yeah! good work giz.

joshieca :

I like, but why stop at March -- dont buy anything RIAA labeled ever again is what I say.

Exactly right. This boycott makes about as much sense as the boycott gas station day, if you're just changing the day you stock up.

Cheers!

@indyband: That may be true, but with my premium eMusic subscription, I'm only *paying* 22cents a song, if I use all my downloads.

Since I'm paying the subscription, I'm much more likely to go ahead and just download an artist's entire discography, or try out something I'd never bother with otherwise. I'd never do that on iTunes at those prices, even if they got rid of DRM.

Sometimes lower prices mean higher revenue.

You guys really have to go broad with this, go to all your sister sites, any other blogs, and have them all continue to talk about it. Get any media connections possible on this and let them all know WHY.

Good luck and We are all supporting you guys.

Please please please, we need to do more. I am looking at the Gizmodos and the Engadgets of the world to organize something with more substance. I was not likely to purchase an album in March anyways so my contribution will have no affect. The intertubes are in agreement about the RIAA but we need to actually do something instead of just bitching and moaning.

I doubt anything will come of their attempt to impose penalties on operators of WiFi but the very fact that they are looking for scenarios and opportunities like that shows that eventually this will probably impede progress/freedom/privacy of millions of Americans.

I'm at a loss on how best to fight them but pirating music/not supporting an artist is ineffective as we will hurt the artists we support.

I wish they were a government we could overthrow. They must be stopped.

So... everyone will follow my suggestion?

See previous post: http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-entertainment/riaa-wants-t...

I'm flattered.

Although 1 month (March) will not put a ding on their bank account because of cash flow and ahead-billing. You need 2 to 3 months for that.

That's why I suggested 120 days... so you can really dry up their accounts.

The 120 days would be better, since then that'd be (theoretically) a third less sales 1Q, and half that in 2Q. But even the first month is a good start.

I'm going to put up a link to this post on my own blog and then I'm going to forward this post to everyone I know, including local radio, paper, and television. Their latest nonsense about ISPs and access points is just totally wrong and inappropriate, they're acting like the freaking gestapo.

ever since i was in a band i've hated these guys. i've always been extremely vocal about boycotting all albums and supporting the bands you like by going to see them live. good job Giz. revolution is evolution...

@indyband: you are delusional (or purposely misleading) if you think the artist gets 65cents of the dollar iTunes track cost. It's more like 11cents (average) with the label getting 54cents.
from http://www.downhillbattle.org/itunes/index.html

"...Apple takes a 35% cut from every song and every album sold, a huge amount considering how little they have to do. Record labels receive the other 65% of each sale. Of this, major label artists will end up with only 8 to 14 cents per song, depending on their contract..."

The RIAA will not get a penny from me ever again. Ever.

Im in

If gizmodo is serious about this, it would be a great idea to post the relevant contact information (possibly create an email form) so that you and any interested people can actually inform the RIAA as to the reason for the boycott. If this doesn't happen, history indicates that the RIAA might try to spin it as more loss to piracy.

Pirate sounds like such a bad word and I am sure it was coined by RIAA, why not simply say it is a Robin Hood month, take from the rich and give to the poor. See that has a nice ring to it. I like it.

Won't work. I haven't bought a music CD in years. RIAA is still in business.

then=next, than=comparison

i doubt your average consumer has any idea what the riaa or mpaa's been doing. most people don't even know what drm is. if this is gonna work, we need mainstream media coverage or the labels are gonna blame the decline in sales on an increase in piracy.

I have not bought a music album in over 5 years.

Just think twice before EVER buying any of that crap. I've been to homes where they have huge stacks of CDs that they've played maybe once in their lifetime. What's the sense? Seventeen bucks for an album with one good song and 14 fillers??? Fuggeddabouddit!

I just made an event on Facebook...I don't know how much It'll help out, but I'm trying my best to get the word spread!

If you're on Facebook...look for the event, it's called "BOYCOTT RIAA!" and join!

Invite everybody and their mom!

"Let me just reiterate that we are not saying you should stop buying music and start pirating everything."

No need... I already do pirate everything. Why should I give money to somebody I don't know, just so I can enjoy some music?

Jeese , thank got I,m a pirate lol

I agree with starting an actual declaration of why we will refuse to support them. As people sign up telling the RIAA to go F themselves, it can gain momentum. We can even link to stories about their evil ways, and maybe, just maybe, the government will notice they're pissing off a lot of people by giving in to the RIAA.

Another avenue you might want to pursue is to buy used CD's from eBay, Craigslist, or your local used CD shop. You still get the satisfaction of listening to your favorite album but only pay a portion of the cost; none of which winds up in the pockets of our friends at the RIAA. And, in the case of local brick-and-mortar used CD stores, you're supporting local businesses -- a win/win for all.

@indyband:... "The best idea is to purchase the physical CD from the artist at a concert so they are guaranteed the highest amount possible."

The cost of a concert ticket lost me. But I do buy from my fav band when I get to see them at a show. And I also look to buy CDs used, swap, or online at $10 or less.

I boycott RIAA all year long. I don't steal. I just don't use MP3 format.

This is a really bad idea, guys.
Please support DRM and the RIAA. They are the ones looking out for the poor, sweet little artists. Without them I wouldnt be able to afford my gold plated shark tank.

Thanks for your continued $$$,

Lars

Somebody should make a graphic/banner that people can put on their websites and link back to this article.

Another possible way to stick it to the RIAA in March would be to ONLY buy used CDs.

This is a great idea. I hate them bastids.

If you feel like you can't get through March without some new tunes, maybe you should check out http://lala.com -- where you can trade your old CDs to others and get new ones for $1.75 including shipping. And the RIAA doesn't get a cent. In fact, $0.20 of every trade goes to the artists through the Z foundation. I don't work there, I just have traded some CDs through it and have been pleased with it.

The question is, will it work? I mean, the RIAA has been blaming sagging music sales on "piracy" since Napster. Of course, they don't actually record a loss on the books - they've made billions of dollars every year.

So would March's decrease in profits be blamed on piracy instead?

Everyone at Gizmodo knows that piracy isn't a factor (at most, it's within the errors of all studies done showing the effects of piracy). But considering that the RIAA have blamed piracy (while they've made tons of money)...

And you might want to add a note saying to NOT pirate the music either. In fact, if something like that happens, that'll just destroy the cause.

(I hate the RIAA as much as anyone, since they're to blame for a lot of crappy legislation around the world, but you do have to think a bit, since they blame every "drop" in income as piracy...).

I just put a link to your story on my website. My site is appropriately titled "Corporate Country Sucks."

Someone digg this!

I boycott them all the time by buying used CD's for $1 off Amazon or eBay. You can also use lala.com

It's funny because the Dead Kennedys predicted this back in 81.

Find the lyrics to MTV Get Off the Air.

Another way to attack their revenue stream: fight their lawsuit against music downloaders. In this day and age when everyone has wireless networked DSL/Cable modems, piggy-backing signal (on purpose or not) has to be the norm, not the exception. This seems to be a glaring hole in the RIAA's lawsuits.

Can anyone point to someplace that provides ways to fight these suits? It seems that if everyone fought them, then their lil' money machine would be hobbled...

If there isn't then that'd be a great article for Giz.

Get rid of these scumbags.

get some of this news out to the media. maybe you can get some pull with a few magazine or a few news papers but for the time being I will mass email my company with this post.

The MPAA & the RIAA must die! Because of the RIAA I have stopped buying music completely. The last CD I bought was Jay-Z black album because it was so damn good! Before that I hadn't bought a CD in Years!

Does anybody actually believe that boycotting the RIAA will solve anything? Hell, I haven't bought a "new" cd for at least 3 years. Does that mean I'm 3 years ahead of Gizmodo and 3 years behind on music? No. Absolutely not!

What it does mean is that there is a fairly large cross-section of young Americans, who happen to be moderately tech savvy that have found a way to bypass companies that claim to protect artists rights.

The RIAA is just another fledging America corporation that fears its certain demise and has promised to fight, scratch, and scream until their very end.

Record stores and their pretentious, so called music experts, a.k.a. CLERKS have become obsolete. Large scale recording studios and their hourly rates have been made redundant due to pro-tools software and home recording studios. Music instrument stores are dropping left and right due mainly the large buying power of Guitar Center.

Thanks to technology, music is becoming easier and far less expensive to compose, record, market, and distribute [and in turn, it's also becoming a lot more pedestrian and less interesting, but I digress].

Let's add them up, mom and pop music stores are closing because of Guitar Center's Wallmart style of purchasing, thus making instruments and home recording equipment less expensive. Cheap means of production is being put into the hands of potential philistines who in turn make crappy music. The radio stations play garbage religiously instead of anything remotely interesting. Pretentious record stores are closing, putting otherwise unemployable clerks out of a job because there isn't anything "popular" for the masses that's worth buying... and everybody is supposed to be bullied by and bow down to the RIA-fucking-A because they can't seem to get their shit together?

Music has been raped, reused, recycled, and re-marketed for decades, and by protecting pre-stolen intellectual property the RIAA has become hypocritical by their own definition.

Please don't be put off by any of this... this is just what happens to ART in a capitalistic society. When the means of production is maintained and controlled by the few, e.g. communism, the overall quality seems to increase due to scarce talent and limited means of production. When the means of production is given cheaply to the masses cheap, hack-worthy music is produced.

Don't believe me? Just pay attention to all of the hacks that you know who own a guitar but only strum power chords? Pay attention to how many of you wannabes fulfill your deepest "rock-star" ambitions by playing Guitar Hero? Do you watch commercials and revere their creativity as innovative and artistic?

Art is dead, and capitalism killed it.

Don't forget about Amie Street. Their pricing and downloading system is unlike anything out there. Basically, indie musicians upload their tracks which start out costing nothing to download. As a track is recommended, its price will rise. No DRM, of course, and no RIAA. That's the way life should be.

Click here to read more. (Disclaimer: I don't work for Amie Street, but I have uploaded my songs to their site.)

I'm e-mailing this to everyone I know... well, not quite but up there. Hope it will make a dent.

From 1994-1995 (when EVERY band I listened to released a shitty album) to 2000, I bought ONE CD.

From 2000 to 2004, I bought dozens. What changed? Napster.

Since 2004, I've bought 4 CDs. 3 of those direct from the artists. (I had one moment of weakness when Inhuman Rampage came out) What changed? The goddamn RIAA lawsuits.

I've been putting my money where my mouth is for almost 3 years.

oh, and DIGG it up!

i run a small indie label. and i can't agree more.
we have had offeres from digital distribution systems. but i have declined them all. i can't. and won't support DRM. luckly. OTHER MUSIC (www.othermusic.com) in nyc is starting a digital music store version of their real store. mp3s will be sold at 320kbps.. and with no DRM. and i will be making my entire labels catalog available through them only. it's great if everyone would buy CDs instead of downloading them. but i figure the people who are downloading them. probably would not have bought them anyways. so there is no loss. support small record stores, artists, and labels if you can, and want. and support DRM free music. you've paid for it. its yours if you ask me.