Hilary Rosen Will Step Down As RIAA Head 602
Phoenix666 writes "NYT Business reports Hilary Rosen is leaving. Question is, what head will spring from the Hydra next? Could this signal a shift in the RIAA's tactics? The article reports 'Rosen's departure comes as the organization sought to soften its image among Internet consumers, many of whom viewed the RIAA -- and Rosen personally -- with antipathy over incessant pressure for crackdowns on sharing digital music over the Internet.'" A press release on the RIAA site says that Rosen will leave at the end of this year.
Ding Dong (Score:5, Funny)
Hot off the presses (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Hot off the presses (Score:4, Funny)
Metallica's musical career and integrity have been in the toilet forever, so hes got nothing better to do.
Re:Hot off the presses (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Ding Dong (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Ding Dong (Score:5, Funny)
Welcome back, how was your coma?
Re:Ding Dong (Score:2, Insightful)
Your specific example is also wrong in Europe where terms are also at artist death + 70 years, but were not extended retroactively.
Re:Ding Dong (Score:4, Informative)
Even if he
And in some measure it *is* the CTEA (aka the Sony Bono act) and its predecessors that keep Elvis off the PD slate, since they revized how long "basic copyright law" keeps works away from the public.
I PRESENT TO YOU SIR (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Ding Dong (Score:3, Funny)
It's time we let Jack Valenti know: You have no power here! Be gone, before someone drops a house on you!
Courtney Love, by the way, is Glenda.
WARNING: Dont Believe it!!! (Score:5, Interesting)
Information is simply too easy to manipulate and copy, either they will half to controll all of it, or none of it. And you had better bet that their goal is to controll all of it - they have not changed one bit. Sorry, it's not over till the fat lady sings. Copyrights, the DMCA, infinite extensions, warrentless searches and seizures, and more are still here and still kicking everybody's but. Dont buy it for a second - the fundamental facts have not changed one bit.
Re:Ding Dong (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Ding Dong (Score:5, Interesting)
Now, I'm not going to say she isn't the monster we imagine her to be, but we have to understand that she is only the head of a massive organization that is funded by several massive corporations. The words that came out of Hillary's mouth were not nessessarily hers, and if the record companies can get you to think that the opinions of the RIAA are somehow different from the opinions of the major record labels, then they have won an important battle.
The record labels do not understand the internet, file trading, MP3s, or anything other than the carefully crafted way they've done business since the 1940's. There were many people paying the RIAA's bills who thought that Hillary Rosen was way too soft on piracy, and thought that the genie should (and could) be put back in the bottle.
We absolutely have to understand that the person to follow Hillary could just as likely be worse than she ever was.
Discount Beast (Score:3, Funny)
The Beast - was $665.95
Now $665.93
Always the lowest prices on the brands you trust. Always.
Re:Ding Dong (Score:5, Funny)
Hey, how about Kevin Mitnick? he's availiable now.
Re:Ding Dong (Score:5, Insightful)
(big explosion of smoke and fire, munchkin geeks scatter at the sight of Valenti in witches' drag)
I thought you said the wicked witch was dead!
Ah, but we killed the wicked witch of the east; this is her sister, the wicked witch of the west. She's much worse.
and what will this change???? (Score:5, Interesting)
I just purchased the movie "Signs" for $17.99 which I might consider to be "reasonable". For one, "Signs" must have cost millions to make. I don't have the amount at hand, but I must imagine that it cost over 10 million dollars. Now, how much does it cost to produce a single album for a group? Less than a million?
In my view audio CD's should be priced at the point at which it becomes pointless for me to even try to pirate them. The price I think audio CD's should sell for is $4.99 plus applicable tax. At that price it is just not convenient to put together all the effort to copy them or pirate mp3's of them. After all, what I would really like is the original high quality PCM samples not mp3's.
If CD's actually cost around a dollar to produce, then the producers can double that when they sell them. That will be two dollars when they sell them to companies like Best Buy. Then, Best Buy can turn around and sell them for double that price, which is four dollars. Of course there will be some variation from state to state so we add a dollar to cover extra's. At most, a $5.99 cost of a CD would be plenty.
If CD's were priced at one third of what they are now then I'd actually purchase more than I am currently purchasing at the current price, way more than to cover the amount they think they would be losing. A secondary problem is the sheer number of artists that I want to purchase grows by leaps and bounds every year, but my purchasing power does not. Everytime I go into a store like Media Play the number of CD's grows, but I still can't take advantage of that.
I've got to imagine that the only reason CD's still sell at the $17 and $18 dollar mall prices is because of stupid teenage girls with large parental pocketbooks. And, yes, that was a slam, so yea, I'm blaming the music industry and stupid teenagers for the current prices of CD's.
The cost structure of CD's is now and has always been ridiculous. We are only now beginning to realize that. The music industry is currently living way beyond it's means and it's time to wake them up and serve them some hot coffee. Until that time I'm done with them. My boycott has started and will not abate until the music industry sees reason.
Re:and what will this change???? (Score:5, Insightful)
You're forgetting about ticket sales. For the cost of making "Signs", the studio got something they could show in the movie theatre, and something they could slap on DVD. By the time you go out to buy it, they've most likely already made back their initial investment (and then some).
With an album, on the other hand, people wouldn't pay to go to a concert hall nad have the studio recordings played for them. Instead, they (quite reasonably) demand a separate, live performance from the artists who made the album. That places constraints on both how many performances can be done (no musician can match the 3264 different venues all showing Signs on opening weekend) and it places constraints on how much money the investor can recoup (as concert sales are generally regarded as the area where the artist, a key part of every single live performance, can attempt to make back some of the money that crappy recording contracts cheat them out of).
Overall, it boils down to two different economic models. You could've just as easily compared an album to a computer game with a modest budget, and you would've come out favoring the album. Sure, at the base level, it's all intellectual property, but the details are a key part of the pricing. (And I haven't even really touched on supply and demand issues, which further differentiate the products.)
Re:and what will this change???? (Score:3, Interesting)
That's right, for $7 more you get the images WITH the music.
Now, Fight Club single DVD movie is $11.99 at Best Buy, while the Fight Club CD soundtrack is $14.99.
The trends are still there. Music is as much, if not more, than DVDs, which generally give you much more. Two different, but parallel, industries, one complaining it's losing money, the other with record years. The one losing money is making more off sales than the one not losing money.
So, go figure.
Re:Profit (Score:3, Insightful)
So?
Look, if the only way to break even (or make a decent profit) is to raise the prices above what the customer thinks is reasonable, then the proper thing to do is go out of business. The proper thing is not to whine about how much it costs to sell your product, in the hopes that the consumer will give you bonus sympathy dollars, instead of saving their money and getting better goods and services for lower prices elsewhere.
Not to mention the fact that DVDs cost just as much to manufacture and distribute, and the content costs several orders of magnitude more to produce... by your reasoning, Black Hawk Down should cost five or six times more than the its own soundtrack, instead of almost exactly the same price.
But my first point is so important that I'm going to repeat it: if you can't sell a product at a price that people will pay, get out of the business.
Who's Next? (Score:2)
But then again, who could be much worse then her?
Re:Who's Next? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Who's Next? (Score:4, Insightful)
Dianne Feinstein?
Schwab
CA Resident
Re:Who's Next? (Score:5, Funny)
Don't underestimate how low you can go. People have been known to hit rock bottom, and start digging.
my nomination for replacement... (Score:5, Funny)
We can't believe it. (Score:5, Funny)
Interview? (Score:5, Funny)
But then again, maybe not. I can see the questions now...
Re:Interview? (Score:5, Funny)
But then again, maybe not. I can see the questions now... "
Look guys, she's not the enemy anymore. Let's pool our money together and send her a T-shirt or something to prove there's no hard feelings. She seems to like this one. [compsoc.net]
Interview: The Salem Bitch Trial (Score:3, Funny)
Why are you a bitch?
What evil made you a Bitch?
Re:Interview? (Score:5, Insightful)
I bet she'd do it (Score:5, Insightful)
I seriously think that is a great suggestion, and
I bet that she would agree to it. If she cares
what the
such a move could do nothing but improve her image.
What could she possibly have to lose by agreeing
to such an interview?
Good - or bad? (Score:5, Insightful)
"Don't wish for a new enemy, you won't know what tricks are up its sleeves!"
Re:Good - or bad? (Score:5, Funny)
Very true (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Very true (Score:5, Interesting)
mercy (Score:5, Funny)
May god have mercy on their souls.
My only consolation... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:My only consolation... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:mercy (Score:2, Funny)
>
> May god have mercy on their souls.
Rosenkids, if you're reading this, start wiping the hard drives NOW, before Mom gets home!
(P.S. Your Mom's still a big fat bitch!)
In fact, I think I'm gonna sing a song about it...
(Don't do it, Cartman! Don't do it!)
Re:mercy (Score:5, Funny)
She's taking her kids to court. Evidentally, some bits of their DNA were copied from her own. She considers this theft so she's suing them for 1.4 billion dollars in damages. She was quoted as saying
"All the blood they're generating is based on my own. Trillions of cells using pirated DNA are created every single month! They can't be allowed to do this. I mean, who's going to pay parents to be concieved if all it takes is a couple ordinary body parts?"
Combine this with the last article (Score:5, Funny)
Jason
ProfQuotes [profquotes.com]
Whatever we do, (Score:2)
Re:Combine this with the last article (Score:2)
Jason
ProfQuotes [profquotes.com]
Wahoo! (Score:2)
Hollywood Reporter posted this (Score:4, Informative)
Jan. 23, 2003
By AP
NEW YORK -- Hilary Rosen, the U.S. recording industry's head lobbyist who waged a high-profile battle against Napster and music piracy, is resigning at the end of the year.
In a statement, Rosen cited personal reasons for leaving the Recording Industry Association of America, where she has served as chief executive since 1998.
"During my tenure here, the recording industry has undergone dramatic challenges and it is well positioned for future success. I have been extremely proud to be a part of this industry transition," Rosen said. "But I have young children and I want to devote more of my time to them."
She said the RIAA board will conduct a formal search for a replacement.
David Munns, chairman and chief executive of EMI Recorded Music North America, called Rosen "a tremendous advocate" who has been "extremely influential in both transforming the music industry in the digital age and in fighting piracy."
The recording industry has been struggling with declining sales, which Rosen has blamed on illegal downloading over Napster and successors like Kazaa. Album sales declined for the second straight year in 2002, down 10.7 percent from the previous year.
Within the past few weeks, top executives at Sony Music and Vivendi Universal's MCA Records also said they were leaving.
Rosen's departure comes as the organization sought to soften its image among Internet consumers, many of whom viewed the RIAA -- and Rosen personally -- with antipathy over incessant pressure for crackdowns on sharing digital music over the Internet.
The group recently set aside a simmering dispute with leading technology companies by agreeing to oppose any government efforts to build locking controls into future generations of entertainment devices.
Technology companies have complained that such controls, which would hamper consumers' efforts to share movies and music, are too expensive and complex.
The recording industry also has been promoting its own, for-fee online music services, but consumers have largely rejected them because of usage restrictions and limited selections.
Rosen was an independent consultant before joining the RIAA in 1987. She also is a founding board member of Rock the Vote, an organization aimed to get younger people more politically involved.
Re:Hollywood Reporter posted this (Score:4, Funny)
Translation: During my tenure here, the recording industry got kicked in the balls in a totally predictable way. We failed to develop new business models in the face of an obviously better way of doing distribution. As a result, our business has actually declined four years in a row. I am very proud to have been the blockhead who failed to take reasonable steps in light of the changing times. Attacking our customers makes me wet. I just don't understand why they think of our legacy business models as non-value added activity. I mean we brought you Elvis, the Beatles, and Michael Jackson on physically distributed media. Since I'm quoting family needs as my reason and don't have another better opportunity lined up, you can infer that I got forced out by people who are sick of my failed leadership, but who are nice enough to let me try to save face. After all, families don't just pop up unpredicatably, and you don't take a position like this if you give a damn about anybody else anyway.
Congratulations folks. This is a sign that we are winning. The Court decisions seem to be a mixed bag -- some good some bad. The momentum in Congress seems to have gone from abyssmal to horrible to merely bad to merely bad with occasional good news. On the economic front, the music industry declines for all the reasons we told them they would if they persued Rosen's agenda. Happily, economics seems to prove that if you wage war on your customers, you don't get profit sharing because there isn't any and you don't stay around long because your investors demand return.
Real reason for leaving... (Score:4, Funny)
Jaysyn
Re:Real reason for leaving... (Score:2)
Only eleven more months to go. (Score:2, Informative)
After she leaves? Nothing will change then either.
Re:Only eleven more months to go. (Score:2)
That would be NIce.
Know your Mythology: Lesson 1: The Hydra. (Score:5, Funny)
Someone be sure to cauterize the wound! Quickly, Or seven more execs will take her place!
Re:Know your Mythology: Lesson 1: The Hydra. (Score:3, Funny)
uh oh (Score:3, Funny)
uh oh, all future CDs require an online activation code, and crashes your CD player, which must be 90x speed in order to hear the songs at "normal tone"
Actually (Score:2)
Joking aside - if you read her WIRED interview she didn't seem happy and complained loudly about her bosses not getting it. I didn't think she'd last.
Quality of music (Score:5, Interesting)
Good. She's leaving. Whatever. She's leaving to change the image - not the politics. But even the politics don't bother me so much.
Here's a clue: You will alienate less people if you put out better music. Woot Woot, the clue train is arriving, and this incarnation of the Pop train is finally leaving.
Here's another clue: We all have CD burners. Besides the obvious ability to copy music CD's, what you don't realize it has taught us is how cheap CD's truely are. I know there's the cost of the production of the album, the marketing, etc., but over 8 million copies, those costs are negligable. People hate you because the last CD they bought cost them $18.99 and the last CD they burned cost $1.76, including the label, the insert, and the case.
~Will
Re:Quality of music (Score:5, Informative)
Mod me up for being redundant if you will, but if the recording industry can sell music CDs here in Asia for $9 and still make a profit, why can't they do the same in the US?
Re:Quality of music (Score:3, Insightful)
OK, you can't compare dollar for dollar in different markets. What is the average rent in a mall, in USD, in Malaysia compared to Manhattan? What are the average wages in those two locations? Electricity, taxes, price of a cup of coffee, it all factors in. Because you aren't paying US$9 for a CD, you're paying whatever your local currency is.
I fully agree that CDs are way overpriced (esp. in the UK) but the argument that products and services are cheaper in hard currencies if you buy them in soft currencies is irrelevant.
Re:Quality of music (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm 17 and I still think the popular music of today is shit.
Tim
Re:Quality of music (Score:4, Interesting)
Every generation claims that music was better when they were young. Things are no different today. You just got old, that's all. It has nothing to do with the RIAA
No, nimrod - music today is driven by marketing departments, databases full of sales stats and any other business source that combined create the "products" that will appeal to the most lucrative source of income. The same small teams of song writers turning out the same tired old lyrics for wave upon wave of dancing puppets to mime to hormone bombs. If you look closely at %%_boy_or_girl_band_of_the_moment%%, you can see the big holes in their backs where the winder key is inserted...
The only places you can hear anything not based upon a proven formula would be independent radio, clubs and live gigs. If the only thing you ever listen to is comercial radio, your getting the audio equivelent of some cheesy cable shopping channel. Soul-less, company product.
Re:Quality of music (Score:3, Insightful)
Ding Dong the witch is dead.. (Score:2)
wait.. she not dead yet. Perhaps they will get someone with a bit more intelligence. Perhaps we can get someone who reads slashdot.
To soften iron you have to turn up the heat (Score:2, Insightful)
If by "antipathy" you mean "violent hatred", you win! It missed a reason why I view them this way though - the fact that they have turned the popular music scene into a mechanical whore for the guys upstairs.
Can they soften their image? Aren't they surpassing Microsoft and Kim Jong II on the list of evil things we hate?
this is the danger zone (Score:2)
But it's true - this is the time when we don't stop the pressure tactics (such as we have). Just because the public face of the RIAA isn't there any more doesn't mean it's gone away. Now's the time to start in on the new head (presumably an internal promotion rather than an external head hunt?) before he/she/it gets his/her/its feet under the table. All too often a simple name change/personel change/whatever change is enough to make people forget what's gone before... beware. Beware!
This changes nothing. (Score:3, Funny)
I'm sure the RIAA will find another shill in no time: All they need is an entertainment lawyer who will set aside ethics and the common good in exchage for a large bundle of money. Goodness knows how long it will take them to find one of those.
From Hilary's POV (Score:2)
Ha, wouldn't that be cool; poetic justice - a great example of evil eating it's own.
Moral of the story - jobs and careers that have you abandon ethics and screw over others, make you just another rat in the race. ie, fair game for all the other vermin.
The only problem is that this country is owned, run, and ruled by vermin. So this brief little triumph for good is a lonely, isolated case.
Only Hilary Rosen has stepped down.. (Score:5, Funny)
Can't get to the press release (Score:2)
1) when is "end of year"? as in fiscal year (coming up SOON) or end of 2003 (oh-so-long)?
2) where is she GOING? I know everybody is scared about who's coming in, but hell, what if she gets elected senator or something? or wose-yet appointed head some government agency about this-or-that?
comments:
In business world resigning is sometimes used as an "I quit" or "I give up," but often is "I am moving onto greener pastures." If a CEO sees that there is no way he can bring the company out of deep shits, resignation is frequent - as he can shift the blame onto the successor. (I am hoping this is the case and the next guy / gal is a little more mellow) On the other hand, I am very in fear if it's because there is an opening in the Federal Anti-Piracy Beurau or somesuch (yes i know "piracy" is a misnomer - it's "copyright infringement" - but you bet your ass that's what they will name it).
Thank F***ing god (Score:2)
One of my co-workers commented:
I thought that was pretty funny. "If I catch you file swapping again, I'll get Lars Ulrich over here to kick your ass!"
She would do it, too.
At the end of this year? (Score:2)
Wired magazine issue 11.02 (Score:3, Informative)
Hating Hilary [Coming Jan. 23]
Napster slayer. Corporate thug. Industry shill. Hilary Rosen has heard it all as the reviled frontwoman for the music biz. Sure, she knows file-sharing is the future. She's just fighting to give the dinosaurs one last gasp.
By Matt Bai
for-fee online music services unpopular (Score:2)
They forgot to mention that for-fee means costs money. Consumers don't enjoying paying money if they don't have to.
Trying to replace her is a mistake (Score:2, Insightful)
The RIAA's actions are the very thing that define the attitudes of consumers towards it. Their propaganda is irrelevant to the people they are trying to address. This is not due to the vehicle they are using to deliver their message, but the very simple and plain fact that their message is not one that people agree with, nor is it one people will agree with given time.
Nobody likes Hiliary Rosen because of what she represents. It was never a personal issue. Though many people have directed their anger towards her, it was never at her as an individual, but rather as the figurehead of an organization who's goals are in opposition to a large percentage of the public.
The RIAA is trying the same tactic the U.S is going to try with the Middle East. Ratchet up the propaganda to people who know its propganada and despise it, attempt to paint a picture of things that is directly at odds with what people see and experience every day, all the while continuing with the same actions the people hate.
This is a move that is a desperate gamble by the RIAA to win a struggle they are losing. An act that has more to do with not knowing what else to do, than a concrete plan based in logic and well-thought out strategy.
Re:Trying to replace her is a mistake (Score:4, Insightful)
Ya, who other than a pirate would be upset by this:Wait, I'm a programmer working for a small company. I make my living off of the compromise of copyright. It pisses the hell out of me!
Copyright infringement is not the same thing as killing people at sea and taking everything they have. Copyright infringement is also not the same thing as breaking into someone's house and stealing what they own. It's not even the same as depriving someone else of their property. Copyright is more akin to jaywalking, trespassing or jumping a subway toll gate. Copyright is valid exactly as long as society decides to make it valid.
Groups like the RIAA would be wise to remember this fact if they value their "intellectual property".
she's the most hated person in recent history! (Score:2)
Napster not to blame (Score:2, Interesting)
A little research would have shown that sales were up during the Napster era, and only went into decline in the two years after the service died out. It wouldn't be suprising to find that these folks were being asked to leave because someone actually looked at the numbers and figured out it's not cost effective to declare war on your customers.
She will be missed (Score:3, Funny)
It's still a year... (Score:2, Informative)
I hate to remind everyone but it is still January of 2003... which means she will be around for awhile still.
Re:It's still a year... (Score:5, Funny)
I hate to remind everyone but it is still January of 2003
It's just my sense of humor, but the fact that this got modded as "informative" is awesome.
Next head will be Celine Deon... (Score:5, Funny)
Think about it, in future you'll be able to get three on-topic posts for the price of one! Woot!
in all seriousness... (Score:3, Insightful)
On the other hand, what can the music industry bring us? What value do they have anymore? CD prices are way too high, and the value they have in most people's eyes are low. You cannot really produce an epic in terms of music anymore. All the good stuff has already been written and produced (think the 80s and 70s).
Her stepping down is waving the white flag, which states, I'm tired of fighting a losing battle, and I know our days are numbered. I think that after she came up with/annouced the zany levy the ISP, she realized that she could no longer carry on.
nothing changes (Score:2)
(/rubs eyes) (Score:2)
And I thought "Karma's a bitch, ain't it"?
.
Trauma (Score:2)
Dr Nick "That's trauma!"
Great!! Let's celebrate... (Score:2)
in other news... (Score:2)
Don't Rejoice Yet.. (Score:2)
At least we currently know the agenda and tactics..
After her departure, I wish (Score:2, Insightful)
I compare the sound quality of CD now and ten years ago...nothing improved. And then they blame us for listening to sub-quality electronic music. Shame on them. Give us something that worth buying.
Think I should stop ranting, this is the day of celebrating.
Leaving? Well... (Score:2)
Nice quote tipped from Wired today... (Score:3, Funny)
Damn!! (Score:4, Funny)
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
I think Pete Townshend said it best (Score:5, Funny)
same as the old boss
Then again, he also said the kids are alright, and we only now figured out what he meant. zing!
What I wonder... (Score:3, Funny)
Anti-karma Post -- Hillary Rosen is NOT the Enemy (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm no fan of Hillary Rosen's tactics as head of the RIAA. But it should be pointed out that she's the head of a lobbying/representative group. She does the bidding of the CEOs whose companies pony up fat wads of cash for the services of the organization that she heads. In a recent Wired article (which will be online tomorrow according to the website) she said that her job is basically to do all the unpopular shit that the record execs want her to do, while shielding them from the criticism. In other words, she's a paper tiger. Her successor will be one as well. She and the RIAA are doing the bidding of the likes of Sony, Vivendi Universal, AOL-TW and all the others. I don't see anyone giving Sean (Pissy) Coombs a hard time about the RIAA's tactics but he's as culpable (as the head of a label that is an RIAA member) as Hillary Rosen is.
If you don't like the shit the RIAA is pulling (and you shouldn't), stop buying music from companies that support the RIAA. Of course, after seeing the list here [riaa.org] you'll have quite a hard time finding any music to buy.
BFL
WTF! (Score:2)
Rosen resigns and a 'first post' post gets modded up... what is the world coming to!
You know... (Score:5, Interesting)
Well, I feel that the replacement may look like a friendly santa claus, but under that nice smile and family friendly approach hides a demon.
Think about it, if they soften their image, people will listen to them and let them get away with more wheeling and dealing away from the limelight. Netizens, do not lose your vigil! The face may change, but the mind is still the same!
That, or they could just spawn someone just as bad as her.
lost weight...feel great (Score:3, Funny)
Hey Hilary, I'll save you a spot in the unemployment line, bitch.
Re:END OF THE YEAR! (Score:5, Insightful)
The search for a replacement ought to be interesting. RIAA leader is one of the toughest jobs in the world today; right up there with Saddam's travel agent.
Continued.... (Score:5, Informative)
Whoops! I'm sorry. I pressed the Submit instead of Preview.
The story can be found here [wired.com].
Rosen essentially wants ISP's to pay a fee to the RIAA to compensate for the loss of revenues due to piracy across the net. She would also like to see the ISP's begin scanning P2P type files being swapped on the net for pirated works.
The successor for Rosen will undoubtedly try to take a more subtle approach. Essentially, we'll be seeing the equivalent of the "Softer Side of RIAA" advertisements. I would implore the Slashdot community to see through the new image to the cold, black, evil that is the essence of the RIAA (and MPAA). Hopefully, Rosen doesn't live in Salem lest she run the risk of being burned at the stake!
hah hah (Score:5, Insightful)
That's slashdot priorities for ya.