Originally posted by Leshrak
I wrote up a big, long-winded reply to bael's defense of the RIAA, but then my browser crashed.

To sum up: Fuck the RIAA.
See the problem here is that in saying "Fuck the RIAA" and through actually trying to go through with the application of "fucking the RIAA" you're fucking a *LOT* more than just the RIAA. You're fucking at least 4 other people (or groups of people) which make the recording even possible. You're fucking the song-writer (usually the band these days) who gets paid royalties per sale of the song/album... you're fucking the producer (who makes the band sound the way they sound, and in turn improves the band's sound and performance), who also gets paid royalties per sale of song/album... you're also fucking the engineer (the person who actually records the band, assures the best possible technical recording of the audio, and works with the producer to get the music to sound better and retool/improve the sound of the music), who... you guessed it, is paid royalties per sale of the song/album... and most importantly, you're fucking the band. And you're fucking the band on half a dozen different levels too. You're affecting the funding they're going to get for the tour to support said album (less sales = smaller tour), you're affecting the funding they're going to get to make their next album (more funding = better album), you're affecting their ability to recoup to the label (less sales = the band being more in the hole)... this is huge, it means the band is likely never going to make money from the sale of their music, meaning they're going to make their money from touring... but you've already fucked their ability to tour, so they can only hope to sell more t-shirts as a supporting act...

I agree that it's fucked up and stupid, and that they need to do something to fix it and help things, however there are generally a lot more things involved than most people realize. There's so much more going on than "I don't want to pay $1 for a song, music should be cheaper, fucking RIAA." (and in reality, it is cheaper, it's only $1 if you're paying for *ONE* song, almost every album I see on iTunes, it's cheaper to buy the whole album than it is to buy each track individually) Personally, I hate the RIAA for a number of reasons, most of which don't involve the price of music, but moreso with the way they handle artists (though, to be honest, I can't blame them on some levels since you have no idea if a band will actually make you money or not). So no, Ari, I have no intention of representing RIAA in any way, shape or form... however, I do plan on Engineering (and perhaps venturing on occasion into production), which means I'll be one of those people who ends up getting fucked by all this stuff. Fortunately, the majority of my income would end up being paid straight from the record company, but I'd end up with less royalty payments, which sucks, because there's a potential to make a good living there (all you need is 1 or 2 #1 albums and you're set).

So, while Jobs may have good intentions (or may just be trying to pass the blame for his Gates-like behavoirs as of late). Plus, in the end, remember a good-size chunk of that $1 is going to Apple, not the RIAA, and hell, Apple even helped establish the "standard" pricepoint of $1. There's always going to be some form or another of DRM, until they can figure out a way to curb stealing. If you made songs $0.10 a piece people are still going to steal them, because the whole mantra of stealing music is that it's "easier" and "cheaper" than dealing with someone like iTunes or Napster or whoever. So who knows.