Hehe
A Dog Devouring Its Own Tail???
NO.. more like a dog that's buried its tail in the back yard so no one can find it, and now can't find it for itself.
The whole argument goes far and beyond p2p and sharing. It is primarily about control, secondly about money, and artists come way way down the list.
Whether you are talking about classical or pop music, one major problem is there is not enough "new" music out there. The record companies invest in soap boxes, not the detergent. When you have recordings of 15 different artists performing a work or a song, who wants a sixteenth? You might do if 12 or even 14 of those recordings were not on current release, and not readily available.
Their archives are vast, and they can't really afford to make the whole lot available on e-subscription, the market would be so short term, and "new" artists and hence "new" profits would suffer. They are desparate to engage in the e-idea, ensure they are the only source and then get back to restricting supply, to retain bouyant demand.
The stretching to fit of copyright laws needs to stop, and recognise that at some point perfomances/recordings of (CD quality) music will
become public domain. Trouble is, even if in 50 years time you have the Beatles and Herbert von Karajan recordings in the public domain, who is going to buy a "new artist" performing "Yesterday" or a new interpretation of Beethoven's 6th Symphony?
In the olden days (rember them JimH?) before the gramaphone, music publishers used to commission composers and song writers. The music companies should be looking for real writing talent in all its forms, not the glitzy, sexy performers with their outrageous ways to promote them, trawling up the same old tired material.
It is the p2p activity in the realm of the older material, that is really eating the RIAA. This is the stuff their members can churn out in compilation/clebration/memorial albums year on year, with low cost and high profit.
From what I hear from the "inside", piracy of new releases is almost encouraged as a promotion gimmick!
The RIAA, or specifically its members, deserve everything that come their way, they have prostituted art for profit and now have one almighty dose of the (slow hand) clap. They are sterile, soulless and lacking in any artistic integrity.
Ilmar