Random Access Memories

So I notced online today the following news.

"According to papers filed by the RIAA at the Copyright Royalty Board, the labels want the board to reduce the rate to 8% of wholesale revenue. The current rate is about 9 cents per song, but it often is lowered in negotiations with the record companies. That money usually is split 50-50 between the publisher and the songwriter. The RIAA contends in its documents that the rate is out of whack with the rest of the world and historical context"

Let’s think about this for a second, that means if I wrote a song and recorded it, and gave it to a record label to publish online, I would get 4.5 cents per download.

Now let’s compare this to when I saw “Altan” in concert. The second violin said “During the intermission feel free to throw money on stage”. At the time the “Gold Dollar” coin was brand new, so I tossed two up that he found later.

Now simple math shows that payment was equal to his profit from 44$ worth of downloaded songs.

I think i’m going to start sending 1$ to each musician I like, that should easily cover the profits lost by any of my “activities”.

As for the middle men, and how things aren’t following “historical context”, I think it’s time for a new set of rules.

Don’t you?