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Aug. 10th, 2003 07:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jfbOne result of my tenure at Liquid Audio is a distaste for the RIAA, that oligopoly of record labels and media conglomerates. I don't take part in the boycott--I like music too much to let a band's business keep me away from its music--but I do weigh a label's RIAA status as one factor among many when I decide what albums to buy.
RIAA Radar has some interesting related tools. You can find out whether particular artists, albums, and labels are RIAA-affiliated, and there's a bookmarklet to make that a one-click operation when you're browsing Amazon. I also liked the yes-no rundown of the Amazon Hot 100: The top non-RIAA album right now is by Pat Benatar at #15, and after that you have to go down to #51 for the Postal Service on Sub Pop.
There's also a complementary list of the top 100 non-RIAA albums at Amazon. Currently #100 on the indie list is Deva Premal's Love is Space, which is #929 at Amazon overall. This means that, although only one of Amazon's top 50 records is "RIAA-safe", over ten percent of the top 1000 are. So as you go down the list, label affiliation seems to widen. I'd like to see that as a graph--both the yes-no question of RIAA membership, and the general matter of corporate ownership.
Also, returning to a previous topic, I had a cursory look at how many of the "indie 100", although not currently RIAA-affiliated, have had major label contracts in the past. Obviously, Pat Benatar has and the Postal Service hasn't. Of the top 20 single-artist records, I counted 12 that have had a record released domestically by a label that is now an RIAA member, plus two that are distributed by RIAA members overseas.
I was also curious about genre. Of the indie top 20, I'd say about half are English-speaking rock/pop; I'd put about 13 of the non-indie top 20 in that category. This is closer than I'd expected--I thought the indie labels would have more jazz, bluegrass, and other genres outside of the mainstream than the majors. Although the major label count goes up if I throw in mainstream country. Ho-hum.
RIAA Radar has some interesting related tools. You can find out whether particular artists, albums, and labels are RIAA-affiliated, and there's a bookmarklet to make that a one-click operation when you're browsing Amazon. I also liked the yes-no rundown of the Amazon Hot 100: The top non-RIAA album right now is by Pat Benatar at #15, and after that you have to go down to #51 for the Postal Service on Sub Pop.
There's also a complementary list of the top 100 non-RIAA albums at Amazon. Currently #100 on the indie list is Deva Premal's Love is Space, which is #929 at Amazon overall. This means that, although only one of Amazon's top 50 records is "RIAA-safe", over ten percent of the top 1000 are. So as you go down the list, label affiliation seems to widen. I'd like to see that as a graph--both the yes-no question of RIAA membership, and the general matter of corporate ownership.
Also, returning to a previous topic, I had a cursory look at how many of the "indie 100", although not currently RIAA-affiliated, have had major label contracts in the past. Obviously, Pat Benatar has and the Postal Service hasn't. Of the top 20 single-artist records, I counted 12 that have had a record released domestically by a label that is now an RIAA member, plus two that are distributed by RIAA members overseas.
I was also curious about genre. Of the indie top 20, I'd say about half are English-speaking rock/pop; I'd put about 13 of the non-indie top 20 in that category. This is closer than I'd expected--I thought the indie labels would have more jazz, bluegrass, and other genres outside of the mainstream than the majors. Although the major label count goes up if I throw in mainstream country. Ho-hum.
RIAA Radar statistics
Date: 2003-08-18 10:46 am (UTC)RIAA-free rankings (overall)
4 out of the top 100 records (4.0%)
10 out of the top 200 records (5.0%)
17 out of the top 300 records (5.7%)
24 out of the top 400 records (6.0%)
38 out of the top 500 records (7.6%)
49 out of the top 600 records (8.2%)
59 out of the top 700 records (8.4%)
72 out of the top 800 records (9.0%)
84 out of the top 900 records (9.3%)
93 out of the top 1000 records (9.3%)