Digital Daily » Recording Industry Association of America

RIAA.Change.Gov?

John Paczkowski — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:00:23 +0000

How’s this for “Change”? President-elect Barack Obama named four former Clinton administration officials to leadership posts in the Justice Department Wednesday, among them Tom Perrelli–favored counsel of the Recording Industry Association of America. Perrelli, Obama’s choice for associate attorney general, currently co-chairs law firm Jenner & Block’s entertainment and new media practice. And in that capacity he has represented the RIAA in a number of file-sharing cases. From his official biography: “Mr. Perrelli regularly represents the recording industry in cutting-edge intellectual property, technology, and anti-piracy litigation. He has represented the recording industry in a host of cases arising under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA), as well as in copyright infringement and digital piracy litigation. He has also represented the record industry and recording artists in a series of copyright royalty proceedings before the Copyright Royalty Board.”

Now, Perrelli’s CV is impressive. He was counsel to Attorney General Janet Reno during the Clinton administration. But his cozy relationship with the RIAA makes his appointment a bit of an eyebrow-raiser. And the entertainment industry’s $7,669,442 in contributions to the Obama campaign certainly doesn’t help matters.

Writes News.com’s Declan McCullagh: “During [Perrelli's] confirmation hearing, it will be instructive to see if senators ask whether his zealous anti-file sharing advocacy can make him an objective civil servant–especially when these same politicians want the Justice Department to sue peer-to-peer pirates at taxpayer’s expense. (Then again, if that proposal becomes law, Perrelli’s surely the right man for the job.) It will also be instructive to see if this week’s news prompts some of the RIAA’s longtime adversaries to moderate their enthusiasm for Obama’s technology policies.”

YHOO Blew It

John Paczkowski — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 18:00:57 +0000

[ See post to watch video ]

iPod Phono: 10 Songs on Your Coffee Table

John Paczkowski — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:12:06 +0000

Turns out the long-playing (LP) record album may not be as much of an anachronism as once thought. As CD sales slip into the mud, and digital music outlets pop up on the Web as quickly as Starbucks stores, vinyl is staging a comeback. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, vinyl LP shipments spiked 36% from 2006 to 2007, to 1.3 million units. CD shipments dropped 17.5% during the same 2006-07 period, to 511 million.

Now, given the vast discrepancy between LP and CD units shipped in the past year, it’s entirely unlikely vinyl will ever claim a significant share of the music market–unless Apple (AAPL), for some reason, develops the iPod Phono. But it may well remain a niche market for some time to come thanks to audiophiles who prefer the LP “experience” and its so-called truer sound.

And so today Best Buy (BBY) is testing vinyl sales at some of its stores, as is retailer Fred Meyer (KR). “It’s not just a nostalgia thing,” said Melinda Merrill, spokeswoman for Fred Meyer. “The response from customers has just been that they like it, they feel like it has a better sound.”