THE RIAA and Piracy

The Recording  Industry Association of America (RIAA) offers a lot of information to members of the  recording industry. One thing they are very popular for right now is the fight against piracy.  Internet and physical piracy have been a problem for the recording industry for years. Internet piracy, however, has really taken a toll on the industry over the last few years.

On the RIAA website, they provide a lot of information on piracy. They list examples of Internet piracy, who it hurts, and even some things they are going to help stop piracy.  This section is not limited to online piracy; it also covers physical piracy. Though physical piracy has been overshadowed by internet piracy, it is still a problem in the music industry.

The RIAA has many studies on piracy and how to make it stop or at least make it have a lesser impact.  There are many articles about the effect that piracy has had and on what they are doing to make it stop.  They have many statistics on piracy over the years.  They also have many studies on the subject.

If the RIAA is successful in cutting back on piracy, it will have a very big impact on the recording industry.  First, the industry would start making more money again. It is no secret that the music industry has taken quite the blow to their annual income. With less pirating, the industry would not be declining.

As a result of more money for labels and studios, they would be more likely to take risks on artists again. This could open up the industry to new artists and genres, not just trending ones. It could also mean more money for the real artists. 360 deals would no longer be necessary, though I am sure they would still be around. Bands could start making more money from touring again instead of the labels taking most of it. 

References:

http://riaa.com/

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Troy Germano opens new studio

Troy Geramon, part of the Hit Facotry family. He runs a Studio Design Group that has built numerous famous studios. He is now building a new recording studio in Tampico, Mexico. The owner of the studio is Jose Reyes. He is also Germano’s strategic partner. This studio will be called RG Germano Studios Tampico (Brown, 2011).

The environment one records in is very important. Unfortunately this is often overlooked.  Nowadays, there are many home studios. When I say home studios, it’s not always a real industry professional with the proper equipment and knowledge to make a great sounding track from home.  Often times a “home studio” is a person with a Digital Audio Work Station (Ableton Live, Reaper, Logic, Pro Tools, or even Fruity Loops or any other DAW) and a cheap microphone or two. Though it is possible to make a great sounding recording with these things, without a good sounding room or the proper technique, you might end up with nothing good at all!

Recording vocals in a closed in area can make it sound dead. Many at home studios, when first starting out use closets to record vocals. The end result, if you don’t know how to use plug-ins to fix it, can sound terrible.  In the end, it is just not a quality recording.

Geramon’s studios provide a much better environment for recording. With proper sound and acoustic treatment, a studio can sound fantastic. Standing waves can be eliminated. The boxy sound of a closet used as a vocal booth is eliminated, as well. With Studio Design Group, they build the studio completely to guarantee a great sounding room. Having a great sounding room saves an engineer a lot of work. He or she does not have to spend time fixing errors from the room in the mix. They can just focus on mixing great sounding tracks!

References:

Brown, J. (2011, October 27). Germano teams up on large-scale recording destination in mexico [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.sonicscoop.com/2011/10/27/germano-teams-up-on-large-scale-recording-destination-in-mexico/

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