| | |
|
ChristopherWlach-SecondPaper 8 - 12 Apr 2008 - Main.ChristopherWlach
|
| |
| META TOPICPARENT | name="WebPreferences" |
|---|
| | | I. Introduction: The Gold and Platinum Records Program | |
<
< | In 1958 the Recording Industry Association of America (the “RIAA”), the trade group for the U.S. recording industry, instituted the Gold and Platinum Records Program (the “Program”). The Program issues awards to records with high domestic sales. Provided the record meets certain qualifying criteria, a record with 500,000 sales is awarded “Gold” status. Other awards are available for records with higher sales: “Platinum” (more than one million sales), “Multi-Platinum” (one million to ten million sales), and “Diamond” (more than ten million sales). * Although the term “Golden Record” had been used in popular music before the Program, the Program standardized the meaning of the term as a sales award. | >
> | In 1958 the Recording Industry Association of America (the “RIAA”), the trade group for the U.S. recording industry, instituted the Gold and Platinum Records Program (the “Program”). The Program issues awards to records with high domestic sales. Provided the record meets certain qualifying criteria, a record with 500,000 sales is awarded “Gold” status. Other awards are available for records with higher sales: “Platinum” (more than one million sales), “Multi-Platinum” (one million to ten million sales), and “Diamond” (more than ten million sales). * Although “Gold Records” had been awarded in popular music before the Program, the Program standardized the Gold Record as a sales award. The RIAA has even registered GOLD and PLATINUM as service marks. | | | II. The Program Promotes a Model of the Musically Successful Record as a Monetarily Successful Record. | | | The current criteria for Gold status do not reflect these new pathways to musical success. By limiting Gold certification to corporations or firms, the RIAA makes Gold status unavailable to individuals who distribute their music independently. By requiring a minimum monetary sales volume, the RIAA also fails to count records distributed for free or at prices much lower than those of major labels. Furthermore, by excluding music that it deems not “legitimate” from its audit, it does not account for current artists who make musically successful records containing unauthorized samples. | |
<
< | Even with major label artists, record sales are no longer as closely correlated with musical success as they historically have been. The availability of music for free online allows people to enjoy music without purchasing records. Downloads cannot be tracked or audited to the same extent as sales of physical records. While there is presumably still some link between record sales and musical success, it can no longer be determined as accurately as it once was. | >
> | Even with major label artists, record sales are no longer as closely correlated with musical success as they historically have been. The availability of music for free online allows people to enjoy music without purchasing records. Downloads cannot be tracked or audited to the same extent as sales of physical records. While there is no doubt still some link between record sales and musical success, it can no longer be determined as accurately as it once was. | | | V. Conclusion: If the Criteria for Gold Status Do Not Change, the Program Will Be Unable to Maintain Its Model of Musical Success as Monetary Success. | |
<
< | The Gold award's focus on the monetary success of a record is hardly surprising. After all, the RIAA represents companies engaged in the business of selling music. However, as the link between monetary success and musical success becomes more tenuous, the Program will no longer be able to maintain its model of the musically successful record without significant changes. | >
> | The Gold award has always been a sales award first. This is hardly surprising: the RIAA represents companies engaged in the business of selling music. However, as the link between monetary success and musical success becomes more tenuous, the Program will no longer be able to maintain its model of the musically successful record as the monetarily successful record. | | | _________ |
|
|
|
|
This site is powered by the TWiki collaboration platform.
All material on this collaboration platform is the property of the contributing authors.
All material marked as authored by Eben Moglen is available under the license terms CC-BY-SA version 4.
|
|
| | |