RIAA Knows Your Music

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is one of the major trade organizations in the music industry.  This association keeps sales records of a majority of music released from major record labels.  They also control legalities and policies of artists and record labels.  The RIAA plays a major part of the four major music companies of the world such as EMI, Sony Music, Warner Music, and Universal Music.  This organization is important to the music industry or my industry because piracy is rampant today and it is important to receive earnings from music record sales.

The RIAA consists of a Gold & Platinum Program, which recognizes artists and songs that have sold millions.  I read on their news page that digital singles have doubled compared to last year.  The biggest single sellers were Adele, Lady Gaga, and Lil Wayne.  I see this being an improvement in the music industry because consumers are still buying music instead of downloading it illegally.

I also read on the RIAA news page that they recently announced, with the International Intellectual Property Alliance, that China, Russia, and Canada are the worst offenders in copyright infringement.  It bothers me that they put this on their page because the U.S. is just as bad with copyright infringement.  Although some major share filing companies, for instance Megaupload, have been shut down, there are still plenty of file sharing applications for illegal music use.

In the future, I tend to fill out an application and join the Recording Industry Association of America. I have their RSS feed in my Google Reader because it is important to stay updated on record sales of today’s artists.  On Twitter, I am following the Senior Vice President of RIAA, Jonathan Lamy, Vice President, Cara Duckworth Weiblinger, and Director of Communications, Liz Kennedy.

Passion in Music

I have a passion for music in general.  Whether it is listening to it or making it, I love music.  I love music so much, I would do it for free for the rest of my life, if that were a choice.  I watched a lecture from Benjamin Zander on Ted.com and he talks about how anyone can have a passion for classical music and how one’s passion can influence others.  There are a few points in his speech that sparked my mind and my interests in my life.

One point Zander mentions is that we can’t just think about our visions step by step but we must think about the vision in the long run.  I took this to heart because it feels that I have looked at my dream step by step and not looking at the whole picture.  My dream is to not only share my productions, but peoples’ voices with the world.

Another point from his lecture was about the job of being an orchestral conductor.  He states, “He depends, for his power, on his ability to make other people powerful.”  As a producer and engineer in my company, I want my customer to feel like they have the power when I provide my services.  If singers come into my studio, I want the singers to leave with a powerful product in hand.  If voice actors come in my studio, I want the voice actors to leave with confidence that they have given a powerful performance.  Saying this leads to another point Zander mentioned stating, “…who am I being, that my players’ eyes are not shining?”  If my clients are not confident in what they are doing, then I’m not doing my job.

Although he specifically talked about classical music, but I feel that this could apply to any music genre or any passion in general.  I have put in a lot of time in my education and experience to build an opportunity for others with talents in entertainment to express themselves behind the microphone.  As I learn more about the industry, I hope to reach my dreams using my passion for music.