I know it may seem pointless and it "ain't ever gonna happen," but just for giggles, let's come up with a list of demands that the RIAA and the corporate recording industry must comply with/fulfill in order to regain us as customers who once again will buy their product (and/or also as artists that would be willing to sign a contract.) I know that without much effort, we could generate a list that reaches from here to the moon.

Along the way, as a matter of course, we shall identify many of the evils perpetuated upon the music loving public by our sworn enemy. By doing this, maybe we will shed more light on the RIAA's myriad wrongs ...and if we succeed, this "exercise in futility" would not have been so 'useless' after all.

Please place the next appropriate sequential number at the begining of each post. (If you are just commenting on something or simply adding on/following up to a prior post and not adding a new demand, no need for a number.)

(I will start off with perhaps the most obvious...)

1) STOP SUING THE CUSTOMERS!

2) RETURN ALL COPYRIGHTS TO THE ARTISTS!

3) OPEN THE ACCOUNTING BOOKS AND TRUTHFULLY REPORT ALL SALES/EXPENSE FIGURES IN A PUBLIC FORUM!

4) STOP LYING TO CONGRESS AND WORSE, TO THE PUBLIC AT LARGE!

5) END THE PRACTICE OF PAYOLA!

6) PAY THE ARTISTS FAIRLY!

7) FIRE EVERYONE WHO HOLDS/HAS HELD A DECISION MAKING POSITION OF POWER AT EACH OF THE MAJOR LABELS! (NO SEVERENCE PAY! NO GOLDEN PARACHUTTE!)

ACKNOWLEDGE FAIR USE!

Folks, please continue this thread. Think of the list as "surrender terms."

I know, I know. Truthfully, most of us agree to give them NO QUARTER because the RIAA and its' members deserve NONE... but remember, this is JUST an "exercise" with the underlying purpose of pointing out their "wrongs." The Grammy's are just around the corner and I predict that there will be a bit of new visitor traffic in response, so let's give 'em something to chew on.

9: Fire your a&r's, and and start signing people based on band battles.

I'm tired of your companies using some moron's judgment rather than that of the fans.. stop telling us what's good and start listening to what we have to say.

10: lobby FOR the DMCRA (h.r. 107 last year) and have it passed.

11) Stop calling people "pirates."

12) Stop calling my music "illegitimate"

13) Require all artists to actually be able to sing.

14) Promote more than just a few/the lowest common denominator.

15. Quit "renting" your music.

16) Quit pushing for perpetual copyright - after 28 years, SET THE MUSIC FREE!!!

DIE!

I thought this was a contract. You guys can use numbers, but I'll just use bullets.

• Use It or Lose It
a) When a contracted artist offers a product to the label and the label refuses to accept said product, the artist can sell it down the road to someone with more intelligence.
b) When a recording goes "out of print" or is not marketed for two successive years after release, all rights revert to the artist.

• Archival Responsibility -- If a studio insists on retaining masters, they better damn well take care of them better than in the past. If you burn, cut, melt down, dump in the trash, toss in the street, blow up the entire freaking building to destroy said masters, any and all contractural obligations to the artist are terminated.
Exception -- any artist which fails ShadowMom Rule 13.

• Give Simon Cowell a broom and tell him to start over, without his dad opening the doors for him.

• Only U.S. owned companies which are subject to U.S. laws will be allowed to lobby the U.S. government. Sony can lobby Japan, Vivendi can lobby in France, EMI can whine to the Home Office, and Warner is limited to petitioning the Canadian government.

• Membership in the RIAA will serve as a waiver of any claim that the member is outside the jurisdiction of the U.S. Dept. of Justice.

• Earning a gold record (or any higher sales achievement) does not mean that someone is automatically an RIAA member. Claiming an independent label as a member without their express written request or authorization will be prosecuted as fraud.

• All government testimony must be made under oath, with the penalty of perjury applicable to any intentional disinformation, deception, or falsehoods contained within.

• RIAA headquarters must be relocated from Washington, D.C. to El Dorado, TX.

Twenty Six is the next number up (I count bullets!)

• Only U.S. owned companies which are subject to U.S. laws will be allowed to lobby the U.S. government. Sony can lobby Japan, Vivendi can lobby in France, EMI can whine to the Home Office, and Warner is limited to petitioning the Canadian government.

• Membership in the RIAA will serve as a waiver of any claim that the member is outside the jurisdiction of the U.S. Dept. of Justice.

• Earning a gold record (or any higher sales achievement) does not mean that someone is automatically an RIAA member. Claiming an independent label as a member without their express written request or authorization will be prosecuted as fraud.


DAMN STRAIGHT!!!

* when you change mediums, everybody gets new copies in the mail instead of buying music multiple times

* lower prices

Better music Give us a reason to want it.

Stop the sue-them-all campaign of course, and APOLOGIZE FOR THE RIDICULOUSLY BAD BUSINESS DECISION TO WRONGLY SUE CUSTOMERS OF YOUR MEMBERS!!

Go to hell. Drop dead. Get lost (In galaxy far far away).

That would solve all the above issues

DeadMan is right. There are no conditions of surrender. There is no action which the RIAA can now take to redeem themselves. They'll never get my business back.

And last week I cancelled HBO and Showtime, because the MPAA isn't getting anymore from me, either.

I'm way ahead of ya, GZ, because I never ever had HBO and Showtime. A long time ago in a galaxy far far away we tried basic cable TV -- no premium channels -- for a month and cancelled it. I've never looked back. What was that song Springsteen wrote? "57 channels and there's nothin' on."

Back to what the RIAA should do. I hate digipak packaging. Are you bozos so cheap you won't even provide a jewelcase for a $17.98 CD? So cut it out, already.

I have another request

All CD's bought through the RIAA must be insured for free.

Because of the ridiculously high prices, there's no reason to require a premium. Plus just owning 10 CD's of bad music will cost you close to 200 dollars.

If they are lost are stolen, replace them immediately.

Don't 'request' Sherm, DEMAND!

Okay, here's one. You've heard of payola?

Time for listenola, which is not a federal offense (like payola) because the FCC has no control over the conditions I impose to decide what goes in my ears.

When I work for people doing computer-related tasks, I generally charge $25-$30 an hour. I charge the same for sound work, but no one ever pays me because I only know cheap bastards.

If the RIAA wants me to waste time listening to their crap, they're going to have to pay the same hourly rate as anyone else. I don't listen for free.

In fact, I'm going to start tracking how much time I am forced to hear RIAA music against my will and start billing them for it.

#47) (or something like that, I lost count)

Pay gdZiemann his listenola!

(George, stay away from buildings, elevators, hold time on telephones, grocery stores, and anywhere they pipe the Muzak or you will bankrupt them and single-handedly win the war.)

Then what we do for kicks?

I would also like for the RIAA to end world hunger, since they are a multibillion dollar non profit lobbyist group that doesn't need that much money to protect artists.

Sherm, I want a confession. I want the RIAA to spend lots of money on commercials and full-page newspaper ads, declaring that they represent the LABELS... and they don't give a crap about the artists that create the music or the music lovers (customers) that they are suing. It's all about the money.

Stop suing customers and return all money that was extorted from customers.

Lobby congress for the repeal of the DMCA, the Induce ACT, and the Pirate ACT. And then no more lobbying congress for any stupid act.

Shoot themselves in the head it will be faster and the result will be the same.

gdZiemann: "I don't listen for free."

Me either! And for the RIAA crap they have to pay me a lot! I have to clean my brain after that.