So lets say you’re the government of a major country, and you want desperately to get into the World Trade Organization, but in the eyes of the world, you’re seen as a major breeding ground for pirates of copyrighted commercial. What do you think you would need to get into the WTO?
If your answer is “a sacrificial lamb,” you are correct — at least in this case. That’s the position Russia is in right now. Their sacrificial lamb? The questionably legal music download site, AllofMP3.
The Russian government promised the U.S., with pressure from the Recording Industry Association of America, that it would do something about AllofMP3 as part of the criteria for its entry into the World Trade Organization.
Many critics, including the RIAA have said AllofMP3, which sells music downloads for as low as 10-cents a song with absolutely no digital rights management technologies, have said the site is one of the biggest bootleggers in the world and has been charged with stealing millions from musicians and labels, and the unions that represent them, by not paying royalties.
The site has contended it is operating under Russian copyright law and is perfectly legit.
On April 18, according to TechCrunch, the site was shut down. Eight hours later, it was back up again, and it is still up today.
So why is AllofMP3 so feared anyway?
I’m sure one of the biggest reasons is the price per download. For example: Avril Lavigne’s new CD, The Best Damn Thing, sells on the site for $1.96, with songs ranging in cost from $0.11 to $0.17.
That seems pretty cheap. But, as I have pointed out before, the cost of a CD in Russia (new in the wrapper) is around $2 to $6 (depending on the artist, shop, region purchased), so the cost of the download is on price point with the cost of actual CDs in that particular country.
American stores were selling it for as low as $9.99 the first week of release, half of the list price of $18.98. But how much did the store pay for it (especially to make a profit at $9.99)? How much does it cost for packaging? How much did it cost to burn the CD? How much did it cost to ship it?
Once you strip away those costs, I think the download price is pretty competitive, especially since the costs of shipping and handling, packaging and pressing are subtracted from the cost.
Now, what about royalties? This is where the RIAA has a point. The artists do deserve to get paid.
But here’s the funny part, after all of those lawsuits against college students, and copyright pirates, and bootlegging organizations, have you ever heard once about an artist getting a check from the RIAA for royalties they sued for?
I never have. Maybe this is just the untold part of the story, but I have never seen a report on bands receiving their check from all of those college students that were ripping them off. NEVER. You’d think you would have heard about it once by now, some artist pissing and moaning about the 22-cent check they got from the RIAA after they sued people for millions in royalties. Just once.
There should really be an investigation launched into that.
But, that being said, AllofMP3 has not shown that is has been paying musicians, but that’s something I’d think they’d be able to work out. Musicians do want to get paid, and if AllofMP3 is opening their music up to a fan base that maybe can only afford to buy one CD a month (and now can afford three or four under AllofMP3’s pricing structure) they would be more than happy to reap the long-term effects of that cheaper sale for a penny a song. Plus, from what I’ve heard about the “new” contracts emerging musicians are signing, a penny a song may be a pretty good royalty to get.
The rest of the arguments I’ve heard, from AllofMP3’s lack of DRMs to it not being an American company (and yes, I have heard that argument), are useless. DRMs are on their way out. They are a pain in the butt and nobody likes them. I, for one, refuse to buy music that has DRM’s, and I know there are many others out there like me.
And, if I remember correctly, we are in a “global economy,” which means there is a place for companies like AllofMP3 (and the dozens of other Russian music sites that for some reason aren’t coming under fire like AllofMP3 is).
But, AllofMP3 will probably be shut down, quite soon. And once Russia is invited into the WTO all of the RIAA’s pirate problems will disappear. Actually, they won’t. The RIAA will always be battling against the forces of evil as they continue to hide from the ever-changing face of electronic communication.
Hopefully though, as they fight the other pirates of the world, someone will finally ask, “Why does it cost $0.99 for a download?”
I would really like to hear that answer.
Want a piece of Nirvana? You may be getting your chance soon.
