RIAA's Statistics Don't Add Up to Piracy

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

RIAA's Statistics Don't Add Up to Piracy

By George Ziemann
December 11, 2002

The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) has a real funny way of
looking at things. Not funny - "ha ha", Funny - "odd."

Before you read the rest of this story, I heartily encourage the reader to
click on the RIAA link above. Make your own judgement before you hear a
thing I have to say. Take your time. Be sure to look at their Market Data
because I'm going to be quoting it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------



The sky is falling! The music industry is doomed! Woe is everyone. The
pirates have stolen all the gold. What will we ever do? How can we possibly
recover? You've poured water on us and we're melting!

Let's quote a few of the RIAA's statements. The first quote comes from the
report on 2001 year-end shipments. The title -- "Recent study Illustrates
Internet Piracy's Impact on Music Market"



WASHINGTON-The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced
today that the number of units shipped domestically from record companies to
retail outlets and special markets (music clubs and mail order) fell 10.3
percent in 2001.

Specifically, total U.S. shipments dropped from 1.08 billion units shipped
in 2000 to 968.58 million in 2001-a 10.3 percent decrease. The dollar value
of all music product shipments decreased from $14.3 billion in 2000 to $13.7
billion in 2001-a 4.1 percent decrease, according to figures released today
by the RIAA.

"This past year was a difficult year in the recording industry, and there is
no simple explanation for the decrease in sales. The economy was slow and
9/11 interrupted the fourth quarter plans, but, a large factor contributing
to the decrease in overall shipments last year is online piracy and
CD-burning," said Hilary Rosen, President and CEO of the RIAA. "When 23
percent of surveyed music consumers say they are not buying more music
because they are downloading or copying their music for free, we cannot
ignore the impact on the marketplace."


Time out. Total number of units fell 10.3 percent. Total sales dropped 4.1
percent. Sorry, Hilary, there is a simple explanation -- The economy sucks,
you guys raised prices anyway while promising to copy-protect everything and
make it harder to listen to. The consumer took a step back.

And here is another contributing factor, from their article, "The Value of a
CD". Last time I looked, this was the top story on the RIAA home page.

<snip>

http://www.azoz.com/music/features/0008.html

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