The RIAA Has a New Motto:
If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit. It has been their modus operandi fort a long time but it seems they have adpoted it as a motto these days.

I spent most of the day Wednesday searching the web for some comprehensive coverage of the California Senate hearings on Label Accounting Practices with little success. There were a few stories, usually about 3 paragraphs, that said something along the lines of:
“Artist and their attorney say they get screwed by the labels,
The labels head accountants say “I am not a Crook”
Cary Sherman from the RIAA said “What we're witnessing here is trial by anecdote.”

Once again, the labels and the RIAA try to change the topic, making the issue “contracts terms” rather than abiding by those contract terms. Its not about the terms of the contract its about if you as an industry actually follow there terms of those contracts. As Simon Renshaw the manager of the Dixie Chicks put it,” Artists usually settle because they have run out of time and money ... That's why the legislature should get involved, because on their own, the vast majority of artists cannot do it in court."

RIAA mouthpiece Cary Sherman said, "What we're witnessing here is trial by anecdote. It's bad enough that the anecdotes may themselves be inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading, but to then have those anecdotes generalized as though they're applicable to all companies and entire industries is truly unfair. There are tens of thousands of men and women who go to work every day to try and advance the careers of artists and bring great music to the public, and it's offensive and malicious to malign an entire industry based on stereotypes, innuendoes, and myths."

Don Henley of the Eagles speaking of the label accounting practices said, “"We all need record companies to manufacture and distribute and promote our work. But we also need fairness. This is a practice in the industry that has become arcane and has become institutionalized over the past 60 years."

Clint Black said he recently learned that he still owed RCA Records money, despite having sold 20 million albums and having generated "as much as $150 million" for the label.

Lola Chambers, wife of Lester Chambers, testified that the Chambers Brothers' signature song, "Time Has Come Today," has earned the group $247 in the European markets in the last 16 years.

The Eagles' Frey explained how his band has been in "perpetual audit" with Geffen and Elektra Records over the accuracy of royalty payments, while Backstreet's Kevin Richardson offered, "Our record company, after selling 70 million albums, still tells us we are un-recouped."

Kathryn Crosby, Bing Crosby's widow, explained how MCA quietly cut the royalty to the Crosby Estate from 15 to seven percent.

Ruben Blades, speaking on behalf of the Latin music community, pointed out that practices were a "bilingual rip-off."

Other speakers included rock guitarist Steve Vai, 1970's funk artist Charles Wright, pop songwriter Jennifer Warnes, and Walter Ward, vocalist in the '60s-era R&B group the Olympics. Also in attendance but not speaking were Tom Waits and Backstreet's Howie Dorough.

OK Cary, I’ll admit that not everyone in the music industry is evil, crooked, or a thief. Many of those thousands of employees have no clue what is going on, just like they didn’t in Enron, or WorldCom. They are as much victims of the accounting practices as the employees of Enron or WorldCom. (although I look forward with anticipation to “The Women of EMI” pictorial in Playboy”

When you can’t find out how many units (cd’s) were manufactured, how can you tell if you were paid all that you were supposed to? This is a basic premise of accounting.

Don’t let these people off the hook folks…..keep the pressure on by writing you congresscritter, NOT buying major label releases, and letting them know why. Buy used CDs, discover indie music at places like DMusic.com. Support boycott-riaa.com Turn off the radio from "cookie cutter" stations that are programmed thousands of miles away whose playlists are bought in their entirety by labels through independent promoters. Most of all support the artists you like through Fairtunes.Com, Send them a donation, and when you see a band you like, in a club or local venue, buy their CD directly from them. Its usually cheaper than any distribution means and the money goes directly into their pocket. Let them know you care.