Again the irony of reality strikes back on the major record labels. According to articles on Toronto Star, Golem.de, TorrentFreak.com canadian record companies have illegaly copied thousands of songs from artists without permission and without sharing the profit with the artists.

Instead the record companies put every song on a “pending list”. According to Golem.de this list has been set up in the 1980s until nowadays and comprises 300,000 songs. Following the idea of “exploit now, pay later if at all” the music companies have never shared profits until now.

In october 2008 the estate of Chet Baker (a famous jazz musician in the 1950s) fired a class-action lawsuit against the music industry. Well known artists like Beyonce or Bruce Springsteen have joined the list plaintiffs.

The defendants on the other hand are Warner, Sony BMG, EMI, Universal, and the likes. The irony here is: those four major labels are also the primary members of the CRIA – the Canadian Recording Industry Association.

Michael Geist of Toronto Star writes:

At $20,000 per infringement, potential liability exceeds $6 billion.

These numbers may sound outrageous, yet they are based on the same rules that led the recording industry to claim a single file sharer is liable for millions in damages.

With those news the Music industry’s fights against piracy will not become any easier. Media industry should eventually stop not facing up to reality.

Our comment

Good night major music companies. This is one of the worst message you could have ever been transporting to the consumers: “We exploit everyone, no matter if it is an admonished file sharer, or an artist. As long as we do it, it is right.”

Your business models are dying, and so are you. Creative indy labels that understand how to use technologies like the internet for the consumers and not against them and how to share profits with the artists will survive.