For a while now, we’ve tried very carefully to not make the mistake that is common in the press (and among politicians) to assume that “the recording industry” (i.e., the record labels) is “the music industry.” The two are quite different. In fact, by almost every measure, the music industry has been thriving over the past few years, while the recording industry is in rapid decline. And yet, the two are regularly confused. So it’s nice to see a new paper come out arguing that it’s time to stop inappropriately using “the music industry” to only discuss or identify a small subsegment of the overall music industry. This is important — because when you realize that the recording industry is only a piece of the puzzle, it suddenly makes you realize that the RIAA does not, in fact, represent “the music industry” at all, but rather a tiny segment of the industry.
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