Apple and Pepsi Ad Sports RIAA Targets 683
eefsee writes "USA Today is running a story about Pepsi's Superbowl ad for their iTunes promotion. The ad will apparently feature teens sued by the RIAA, including one young woman who holds out a Pepsi and says, 'We are still going to download music for free off the Internet.' The RIAA response? 'This ad shows how everything has changed.'"
The 12 Year Old... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:The 12 Year Old... (Score:5, Funny)
You live in the future, that must be cool.
Re:The 12 Year Old... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:The 12 Year Old... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:The 12 Year Old... (Score:5, Funny)
Soon
Re:The 12 Year Old... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:The 12 Year Old... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:The 12 Year Old... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:The 12 Year Old... (Score:5, Funny)
So that's why I never get first post!
Now where'd I put that tinfoil hat...
Living in the future (Score:5, Funny)
They've been telling me that for years, but somehow it's still the present...
The bleak and horrible past! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:The bleak and horrible past! (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm more sad that most of the music the world has made is either unrecorded or unpreserved.
No, I mean... (Score:5, Insightful)
In the bleak and horrible past, people made decisions for us.
Re:The 12 Year Old... (Score:5, Funny)
I'm not a /. subscriber, you insensitive clod!
Re:The 12 Year Old... (Score:3, Funny)
Not just famous, get infamous!
sex drugs and rock'n'roll (Score:5, Funny)
Pepsi is all about stickin it to 'da man'
Re:sex drugs and rock'n'roll (Score:5, Funny)
Does it mean Coke is 'da man'?
Re:sex drugs and rock'n'roll (Score:4, Funny)
I don't think that word means what you think it means. Either that, or somehow, the unholy union of Apple and jocks reminds you of how much you want the church and state to be one and the same.
Re:The 12 Year Old... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:The 12 Year Old... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:The 12 Year Old... (Score:5, Informative)
There was something better than a balanced budget back then, there was a SURPLUS.
If we can't pay off our deficits in a boom, then when can we?
You're confusing deficit [reference.com] with debt [reference.com]. In the simplest of terms, debt is what you owe. You run a deficit when you can't even pay off the interest on what you owe, so that you owe more and more each year. I'm Canadian, so I don't keep close attention to US statistics, but I recall Clinton having surpluses at least for most of his last years, and was at least matching the interest on debt. Even Bush had that luxery when he first started.
The right way to manage deficits is to shrink them in boom cycles, and allow them to grow in down cycles
Bullshit! The right way is to pay of DEBT in boom cycles, and at least make sure there is no defecit in all other cycles. In down cycles you borrow, but you don't borrow beyond your means. If the United States had a Master Card, it would be cut in half by now.
Bush has faced a lot of problems in his presidency that Clinton was fortunate enough to not have, and it is unfair to criticize him for not balancing the budget in a recession when Clinton couldn't do it in the midst of the dot-com bubble.
I won't argue that Clinton had it better than Bush, but Bush knew just as well as anyone else that the bubble had burst, and could have better managed the TRILLION DOLLAR surplus he had, rather than stuffing his fat friends pockets with your hard earned money.
I believe that the deficit is too big an issue to try and blame it on any one person or party.
Yup. But when I think of lack of fiscal responsibility, I think G E O R G E W. B U S H
Good. (Score:5, Insightful)
Either the RIAA can join in and make money, or they can sit back and hopelessly try to defend an oppressive business model that has been rendered technologically obsolete.
Re:Good. (Score:5, Insightful)
Um, isn't the RIAA already involved? From what I remember, they get a pretty large chunk out of that $.99 paid to the iTunes music store. Looks like they are doing both at the moment...
Re:Good. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Good. (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Good. (Score:3, Informative)
RIAA gets a cut of almost every song sold on iTMS, just like when you buy most CD's.
Re:Good. (Score:4, Insightful)
The money may "go to the RIAA", but in reality it's going to pay off the debts incurred by the bands.
Re:Good. (Score:5, Funny)
What a nasty thing to say about banks.
P.S. Conning people out of their life's work is not "loaning" them anything.
Re:Good. (Score:4, Funny)
Right, it's "the Internal Revenue Service".
We're like a bank, but better! (Score:3, Funny)
"it used to be called payola, now it's music marketing!"
RIAA != Bank (Score:5, Insightful)
Now if I'm PAID to make a house or car, I don't get to keep the house or car I made.
If I don't like my employer, there are plenty of other cats to go to. The RIAA is a monopoly of the available employers for a particular industry. Smaller employers (indie labels) have a hard time breaking in.
Re:Good. (Score:5, Insightful)
from the 99 cent iTunes download they get about 11 cents per song.
Apple gets about 35 cents per song.
In both cases, the RIAA/Record companies get the rest.
So, if I buy 10 tracks from an album, the artist gets about $1.10, as oppsed to 8 cents.
Support iTunes because it gives back to the artists. Don't not support it because it puts money in the RIAA's pocket. Even CD-Rs (so called music cd-r) get "Taxed" by the RIAA. You have to pay the RIAA to do anything with RIAA music. The best we can do is pay less for the music and give the artists a bigger cut. iTunes seems to be doing this, so it is a Good Thing in my book. At the very least, it is a step in the right direction.
Re:Good. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Good. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Good. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Good. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Good. (Score:4, Insightful)
Or I can listen to what I like, and not base my music tastes on sticking it to the RIAA...
Re:Good. (Score:3, Insightful)
Remember, the artists could just have well not signed up to be in the RIAA, and remain independent. Instead, they "sold out".
There really is no reason to join the RIAA. You could have easily produced your art without them, and remain independent. If you wanna be rich as an artist, make the money yourself, and do your own promotions. If someone else is going to be doing al
Re:Good. (Score:5, Insightful)
Even CD-Rs (so called music cd-r) get "Taxed" by the RIAA.
If this is true, then haven't I already paid for the right to copy RIAA music?
Re:Good. (Score:5, Insightful)
The RIAA really doesn't make a lot money (Score:5, Interesting)
He noted that for every 10 high potential artist a major label promotes, only 1 makes it. Typically, it costs a large label around 1 million to promote, pay, and produce a single artist (I once worked for a label, I can confirm this).
So this means, it cost about 10 million dollars to find one needle in a haystack. Those artist who do "make it" have to, essentially, pay for the giant losses made by the 9 other artists who didn't make it.
According to Jobs, the record industry is a fairly shitty business.
Re:Good. (Score:3, Informative)
You can get income and still be in the hole. Profit happens when you make more than you sped. Apple is making money, but maybe be spending more than they make, which equals a loss.
Re:Good. (Score:5, Funny)
Well, at least until they get to Step 3, anyway.
Re:Good. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Good. (Score:5, Informative)
The RIAA is a trade organization, not a record label. They do not provide studios or producers. Record labels do those things, and I might also argue for their irrelevance--but not as soon as the RIAA.
The reason why I said established artist is that the marketing (which to a large degree is really just distribution to record stores and radio play) aspect is actually hard for a band to do on its own. I think that pull-based collaborative filtering like audioscrobbler or even garageband.com can work to obsolete push-based recommendations like clear channel, and I think the resulting system would be better for both artists and listeners.
I challenge someone to name one band that has gone gold without an RIAA marketing push.
Both of Liz Phair's albums on Matador went gold, and Matador is an independent label that's not a member of the RIAA.
Re:Good. (Score:5, Informative)
Try doing a little research before you just blithely talk out your ass about something you know nothing....oh, wait. Riiiiight. This is slashdot.
Re:Good. (Score:4, Informative)
1. iTunes does not deal with artists directly, therefore if you sell through the iTunes store you need a label.
2. However, this label does NOT need to be a member of the RIAA. Independent labels/distributers (e.g. CD Baby) have deals with iTunes and the other online music stores.
3. Some of these distributors have the same contract with every artist and sell through a variety of channels (mail order, iTMS, Napster, MusicMatch, etc.). For instance, CD Baby has this deal [cdbaby.net] where the artist gets 91% of the money the music store pays out.
SO, it is very possible to have a distributor that has no relationship with the RIAA, but does have a relationship with ALL the major online music stores.
Now, say what you will about Apple, they definitely have faults, but I certainly applaud Steve & Co. for coming up with this model and making sure that the indie record labels and distributors can strike deals with the exact same terms as the RIAA.
Although I have much more respect for the guy who runs CD Baby.
Re:Good. (Score:4, Interesting)
CDBaby actually *is* our distributor. Through them, our CDs are available via iTunes and pretty much all the other digital music stores, as well as Tower Records and the CDBaby site itself.
Derek at CDBaby is a brilliant, brilliant man, and I have nothing but respect for him, and his whole company.
They take only a very, very tiny cut of sales revenue (like 6 cents or something), leaving us the majority of the sale.
Re:Good. (Score:5, Insightful)
Theres two problems here
First of all, the slashdot blurb doent make it clear, as the article does, that Pepsi is paying to give away 100 million free song downloads on the iTunes website (presumably with the purchase of a Pepsi product). Thats the nature of the "we will still download for free comment", which has nothing to do with subverting copyright law. Its a really great marketing scheme which doesnt really do anything at all except play on your wants and fears, having you make assumptions about the current state of the music industry and Pepsi's stance on it. Scroll up a bit and you'll find a guy professing to buy Pepsi from now on, even though he doesnt really like it.
Secondly, even if there was a mega-corporation taking aim at the RIAA, it wouldnt prove that the business model is failing. This was proven long ago when the RIAA sued a 12 year old for downloading the theme song to Full House (among other songs). It has been proved repeatedly over and over again since then, most notably with the introduction of iTunes - a new business model. If cant be sure yourself, and you need Pepsi to validate this for you... well I dont know what to tell you.
super bowl watching tip (Score:5, Interesting)
Seriously, I noticed last year that if I hit my 30 second skip right when a play ended, it would usually take me right to the snap for the next play. With the 30 seconds of downtime between plays gone, football was actually kind of interesting!
Re: super bowl watching tip (Score:3, Funny)
Well then maybe you've been watching the wrong kind of football to begin with?
Re:super bowl watching tip (Score:5, Interesting)
Then there are two things that I enjoy watching.
1. Seeing what everybody on the field is doing. Because a typical football play only lasts about 8 seconds, everybody on the field has a specific job, and they all know what everybody else is doing. When you start watching football you just follow the ball (which is unfortunately what TV does also). But start following other players instead. It's neat to see a running play work because the center pulled, etc.
2. Second-guess the coach. Football has a lot in common with a turn-based strategy game. (Every turn is about 10 seconds.) During the down-time, decide what you think the offense should be doing, or what the defense should be doing.
I know the
Tim
Re:super bowl watching tip (Score:3, Troll)
You are missing the best part of the Superblow.
best football quote I ever heard was: (Score:5, Funny)
I love foosball btw... even tho it's of da devil!
Re:super bowl watching tip (Score:3, Interesting)
Yeah, right (Score:5, Funny)
We need to have a 'present' first.
How come... (Score:5, Insightful)
Way to go Apple and Pepsi but.... (Score:5, Insightful)
As the RIAA responds "this is the way it is supposed to be" they will probably be filling out the next batch of legal filings accusing more senior citizens of stealing songs. The worst part of all this is that here they are making money off legal downloads while they attack people like rabid dogs trying to make more money.
Re:Way to go Apple and Pepsi but.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Superbowl?! (Score:3, Funny)
You obviously have slashdot confused with google.
The good life (Score:5, Funny)
Not at all stupid (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Not at all stupid (Score:3, Insightful)
Same ol' RIAA but now with Moxie? (Score:5, Insightful)
Sorry, for picking you from among the many who are echoing such sentiments, but how is this "less evil than before"? As far as I can tell (not having yet seen the ad and given the article's details), the former defendants will be on the tube, hats in hand, promoting a pay service to obtain files over the Internet. Furthermore, the AAC files Apple sells on the iTMS are DRM'ed. This is everything the RIAA could have hoped for: former P2P'ers nodding to the beat of paying for their downloads.
Also keep in mind that members of the RIAA get a take of money earned by the iTMS if those tracks are copyrighted by RIAA-affiliated labels, and many are.
Don't get me wrong. I think iTMS is great (I'm a Mac head from way back who loves UNIX) and have maybe a couple dozen songs with the "m4p" extension. I also used Napster maybe a dozen times and hated the RIAA's campaign to destroy one of the best databases the world has ever known. But with the exception of profiting from digital music distribution, I don't see how the RIAA has changed at all.
they're not less evil, just less stupid (Score:5, Insightful)
RIAA labels still have preferential access to music on radio, they still control their supply chain, and they're getting paid. What's even better is that the while the ad might portray Apple as standing up to the RIAA, Apple (and its customers) are paying them for the music all the same. It's like beer ads that preach mass-market nonconformity as a panacea for conformity - it allows people to feel that they're hurting the RIAA by buying iTunes while giving RIAA precisely what it wants from them (control over music choice, and money).
The RIAA should be cheering - they negate some of their opposition and get paid if they just sit back and shut up. They haven't changed - they still want control over aspects of music they have already shown they can't be trusted with. They're just smarter about it.
it's kind of funny..... (Score:5, Interesting)
yeah they were downloading and whatever, but they are not bootleggers out there selling copies. they are just kids. the article said a few of the kids said they will use some of the money they get to pay their $3000 settlement.
Re:it's kind of funny..... (Score:3, Informative)
It's a tough lesson for a kid, but one they're going to have to learn as if you think it's going to get any better you're living in a dream.
With the economy tanking corporations are looking for unclaimed revenue streams to bring their profits back up and areas they didn't really care
One thing the RIAA is powerless to do... (Score:5, Interesting)
Screw that. From now on, I am only buying used.
Re:One thing the RIAA is powerless to do... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:One thing the RIAA is powerless to do... (Score:3, Interesting)
Well, sooner or later the sales of physical records are going to fall anyway. The only thing I need physical CDs for are backup purposes e.g. in the case my computer hardware was damaged and I needed to recreate the digital copies.
I have all my CD's encoded in a digital format and because of all the convenience it gives me, I'm not willing to give it up. The physical discs will sooner or later become obsolete. Not this year or the next year (I mean there are sti
uploaders, not downloaders (Score:4, Insightful)
The entire article is wrong. They were busted for being uploaders (sharers) of music, not downloaders. In fact, it is perfectly legal to download music off the internet. It is against copyright law to share it, which is what they were doing.
Re:uploaders, not downloaders (Score:4, Informative)
For example, it is perfectly legal to borrow a CD from a friend, copy it for your own personal use, and then return the CD. However, it is not legal for your friend to copy their CD and then give you the copy.
Spin (Score:3, Funny)
So, I guess Darl McBride opened that PR school after all.
Not what you think (Score:5, Informative)
Learn your values from megacorps (Score:3, Insightful)
Controversy (Score:3, Offtopic)
Re:Controversy (Score:3, Insightful)
Fact: MoveOn.org does not pay for ads on a regular basis on TV, and certainly not on CBS.
Fact: Pepsi does
Fact: Politics and voting are of little concern to over 50% of the population
Fact: Comercials that are entertaining generate better response from the viewing audience.
Fact: The superbowl is not a politic
Re:Controversy (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Controversy (Score:4, Insightful)
Naturally, CBS is under no obligation to air the ad, but it is upsetting that such a mild ad gets the shaft while a company like Pepsi can pretty much do whatever it wants.
Remember, these are our airwaves. The same airwaves that will broadcast ads from Bush' drug policy office, in case anyone was getting worried about "equal time". If an organization is willing to pay fair market value, I see no good reason, aside from outright obscenity or something the FCC wouldn't allow, why they should be stopped from airing their views, commercial or political. If Pepsi can nudge the RIAA, then MoveOn can nudge Bush for the same dime.
950 songs over 3 years? (Score:4, Funny)
That is laughable... An average geek downloads that much stuff in 2-3 months.
Of course... (Score:5, Insightful)
Meanwhile... (Score:4, Funny)
pepsi (Score:4, Interesting)
5 years ago, someone giled a lawsuit over the pepsi points/harrier jet [slashdot.org] ad.
A couple weeks ago, a suit was trown out (because it was filed after the statute of limitations) when a boy died after swallowing a pin [azcentral.com] used to "shotgun" a soda.
No word yet if anyone has been killed trying to drink pepsi one while sky-diving.
Re:pepsi (Score:5, Funny)
Hurray for Darwin.
Downloading is Theft? (Score:4, Insightful)
Fuck them. Once again, it's not theft. It's copyright infringement. Fuck them.
Pepsi thinks it's cool (Score:5, Funny)
I'll wait.... (Score:3, Funny)
Regards,
Steve
Advertising supported music??? (Score:5, Interesting)
So, when this ends and downloads slow down, will Fritos, KFC, etc. be the next to give away music downloads? And how long do you think it will take until all music downloads are sponsored by advertising dollars?
Just my $.02
That's nothing... (Score:5, Insightful)
Let's face it, while an ad during the Superbowl seems like a big deal to us geeks, people ALREADY know about teens being busted by the RIAA. While the buzz has definitly gotten around to non-techie people, people just aren't getting worked up over this enough to actually do anything about it.
As much as it's considered taboo to say "downloading music is stealing" on Slashdot, that's what many people who do not download music see it as - teens getting sued by the RIAA for stealing music. It really doesn't tug on your heartstrings when that's what you see it as. You gotta remember, the average person who doesn't use P2P services probably does not understand the chances for the wrong people getting accused by the RIAA. They don't realize the RIAA is basically extorting people for absurd amounts of money to settle or face civil prosecution and all the costs associated with it. They don't realize the RIAA is abusing its monopoly and rips off its artists. All people see are teens stealing music.
I see something much more sinister in the Pepsi commercial. I see the RIAA getting its way for $1 a track. I see once insubordinate teens that have been "shown the light" by becoming corporate whores and bowing to the RIAA's will. It only took Apple 20 years to be associated with a superbowl commercial totally opposite of their 1984 vision. This time, big brother wins.
It's a good thing I drink coke.
bud-weis-er? (Score:3, Funny)
The truth is... (Score:5, Interesting)
"RIAA has filed 914 lawsuits since it began cracking down in September, including 532 this week."
Mitch, if things have changed, why are you still filing lawsuits? The truth is as long as a product's price is artificially inflated, there will be a black market for that product. You guys never learn, you were celebrating after shutting down napster, but what happened? 5 more popped up in it's place. Shutdown Kazaa, what's going to happen? People will move to tools like soulseek and newsgroups.
If you simply provided a high quality product at a fair price over the internet, then piracy would be reduced to 10% of what it is today. Instead you provide low quality audio recordings with what you call Digital Rights Managemet (Consumers should call this what it is, Digital Restrictions Management, because who's rights is it managing?), at the same price you charge for a physical product.
I hope you don't learn your lesson. I hope more and more artists will see the light, and manage there own distribution chanels with the internet. The world would be a better place without the RIAA. Music survived before you, and it will live on after you're gone. Good riddens!
Mitch Bainwol has high political (R) influence (Score:4, Informative)
Bainwol had worked closely with then-National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chairman Frist during the 2002 campaign cycle while serving as Executive Director of the NRSC.
With an undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and an M.B.A. from Rice University, Bainwol began his career as a budget analyst in President Ronald Reagan's Office of Management and Budget (OMB). He went on to become a U.S. Senate leadership staff director from 1993-97, chief of staff of the Republican National Committee in 1998, and then a top lobbyist for the management consulting firm Clark and Weinstock in 1999.
During his career, he has managed two successful statewide campaigns and advised on numerous others. Before forming The Bainwol Group in 2002, he also served as chief of staff for U.S. Senator Connie Mack (R-FL) for nine years (1989-1997). Mack praised Bainwol's "ability to manage an organization, fully appreciate all the nuances of issues, and grasp in a very short period of time the essence of a debate."
Arggh! It's not downloading. (Score:5, Insightful)
If you want to know why the RIAA is hip to this, just think a moment. It blurs the activity. Illegal downloading is now the problem in the public's mind. By saying they litigated on the demand side rather than the supply side, they make people worry about whether the downloads can be tracked.
I respect that the RIAA needs to enforce the publishing rights of its members. Given how creepy most people think the RIAA is, I don't see why the reinforce the perception by perpetuating a lie.
Today's vocabulary lesson: weasel words. (Score:3, Interesting)
"This ad shows how everything has changed," says Mitch Bainwol, RIAA chairman. "Legal downloading is great because fans are supporting the future of creative work in America." (emphasis mine)
That's right, Mr. Bainwol. Fans support the artists. Not the RIAA. The fans.
I have discovered many bands that I like a lot because a friend sent me an MP3. I don't think that any performer out there (okay, unless you're a member of Metallica) would complain about losing that $.02 in royalties, if it meant another person buying the CDs and attending the concerts. Which is exactly what I do, but I'm not buying crap from the latest over-hyped bubblegum act, either.
Either way, the RIAA loses.
And that's just fine with Y.T.
Addendum: I'm not exactly pleased with the whole 'wink-n-nod' attitude that the commercial apparently displays, either. Instead of bringing attention to the issue of a private organization taking legal enforcement powers unto itself, I see large corporations engaged in a mutual luv-a-thon. And there's a perverse logic to the whole thing: turn it into a joke, and people will quit whining.
At least until Grandma faces a $1.5 million dollar lawsuit for her supposed obsession with the musical stylings of Ol' Dirty Bastard.
Updating the '1984' Ad (Score:5, Funny)
Have the Blonde being chased by RIAA police while the drones watch the latest RIAA anti-piracy ad on the big screen. Have Blonde throw the sledgehammer into the screen, etc etc.
Important note for oldtimers (Score:5, Interesting)
There are kids out there who were 12 when it was 1998, they saw the heyday of MP3s and the dot com boom in junior high school, they've almost graduated now and the RIAA is trying to tell them that what they've been doing on their computers for as long as they remember is illegal.
They're going to have a very hard time convincing these kids that CDs are worth money. You might as well be selling 8-tracks.
Signing their own death warrants (Score:4, Insightful)
The RIAA currenly has a monopoly on physical distribution. No pirate could every touch them when it comes to their ability to crank out physical CD's. However, once they get the downloading in to the mainstream, (and I mean making it totally replace cds) they will have changed the market so that they are totally obsolete. The RIAA cannot survive in an online world...they are too big, too slow, and too hated.
Let's face it, when it comes to the internet, Geeks have a thousand times more resources for distributing information than the RIAA ever will. What's to stop new bands from using services like itunes to be promoted alongside RIAA bands, and then selling their own music over the net?
Anyways, here's to the RIAA! Thanks for helping to make a world where you are irrelevant!
Re:COOL (Score:5, Funny)
Re:COOL (Score:4, Funny)