Celtic Radio Commentary:, RIAA and Hannah Montana

[CelticRadio]

Commentary:

The associations representing musicians in America are doing a terrible dis-service to the clients they represent. We are all familiar with the current turmoils of Internet Radio and how the RIAA wants to close down independent Internet Radio Stations. For a long time now those of us close to the issues have been trying to educate listeners, congress and the American people that it is all about the money and power of these super rich self serving corporations.

And now word comes to us tonight of even more shady dealings with promoters and ticket venders. The popular Disney Show Hannah Montana is seen by practically every school age child in America. It is THE show to watch if you are between the ages of 7-14.

The dreams of all of these children and their parents hoping to purchase tickets to see the Hannah Montana concert (Miley Cyrus) where discarded by all of these self serving corporations. For within minutes all of the tickets of Hannah's 54 concert tour were sold out - not purchased by humans - but by automated software programs controled by the brokers of the music industry.

Legalized Scalpers we can call them who will fetch up to $1,200 per ticket for the best seats and $200 for regular seats. Certainly only affordable by the top income earners in this country.

Attorney Generals across the nation are urging those who wanted to buy tickets to contact them so an investigation can be launched.

Inflated CD and ticket prices have long been accepted in this country for far too long. What we are dealing with are the same forces that control the music in this country wanting to further rip-off the consumer with their shady and underhanded practices. It will not be the performer (Miley Cyrus) that will benefit from these ticket prices, but the investors, attorneys and promoters that will reap the benefits of the success of a childrens show.

So what can we do?

- View more information here.

- Visit http://www.savenetradio.org/ to have a voice in the Internet Radio debate.

- Call your Senator and Representative and tell them the music industry in this country needs investigation.

- Purchase music from independent record labels and musicians.

Thank you for reading our commentary on this important issue. While not related to Celtic music, it is a perfect example of the forces at work in our country that need to be exposed. Profiteering by these entities should be stopped dead cold in their tracks just like the RIAA should be stopped by the passage of the Internet Radio Equality Act.

We will continue to inform our members of issues involving consumers and musicians alike.

[haynes9]

I knew things like this happened, but not on this scale. Thanks for the heads up, Paul. This is just plain wrong.

[Lady of the Loch]

That is terrible. My ex-husband was going to buy tickets to take our daughter to see her for a christmas present. I will definitely pass this information on to him. It is sad that these young children who want to see a star such as Hannah Montana has to be affected by stuff like this. Thanks for the info Paul!

[TandVh]

Oh the decietful world we live in! How discouraging it is to see these wicked people thriving on less fortunate souls.
Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

[Robert Phoenix]

Read the first article. Unbelievable. And the said fact is this girls talent will be exploited by the labels untill she is just yesterdays news and is being forced to give up her dogs to an ex boyfriend.
quote-If there's a silver lining for would-be concertgoers, the Seattle show has one of the lowest average resale ticket prices on StubHub, at $169. The highest market is New York City, where StubHub sellers on average are getting $406 per ticket. The lowest is Albany, N.Y., at $109.
$109.00!!! And its hard to believe I only paid $15 to see Kiss in 1977, $25 for Pink Floyd in 1985 and $25 for Great Big Sea last summer.
quote-Some tickets are going for more than 15 times face value, and at least one legal inquiry is under way, while Ticketmaster has received the brunt of criticism over the way tickets were distributed.
Ticketmaster-I'm not surprised. No wonder they are so afraid of the internet.

[stoirmeil]

It should be distasteful and infuriating across the board, and of course it really is, but there's something about cornering music the kids love and want that makes the whole business the more cynical. Just foul.

[Aaediwen]

Lessee, the track record:

Napster springs up, and spawns various spin-offs

They attack Napster --- Ok, understandable, in a way.

They can't attack the spin offs due to lack of centralization... ok. So what? there is a legitimate use for them too. Yeah, there is an issue of how to curb illegal use... that's another matter

They go after blue haired grannies, and 5 yr. old kids... Wait a minute here! This just ain't right!

They put DRM on CDs that breaks computers -- Sorry, it's my computer... get your filthy hands out! Anyone else would get some time in the slammer for gaining unauthorized use of a computer. And then some folks have to make service calls for a disk locked in the drive!!! The Labels better PAY! Yaay for Red Book!

They attack Internet Radio -- Ok, you can't quell the pirates, so you'll harrass legitimate webcasters who are going out of their way to obay the law? ? ? Guys, if you can't stand the heat get out of the fire! Don't try to get Uncle Sam to lower the temp for you. (Yaay for the Inet radio community)

They Scalp tickets -- Uhh, someone deserves to be sued every way from Sunday, enough to make the Microsoft case look like small claims court! You're cheating the (very law abiding) fans, the artist, the producers, and the venues out of several tens of thousands of dollars each!

Someone see a pattern here? I'm just waiting for the RIAA to implode due to their own actions.

[itsmewendylee]

Tell me about it!

I have never understood the entire concept of "legalized scalping." Can someone please explain to me further just where the money brokers rake in goes and how that's tied to the RIAA and the music corporate filth?

My two daughters (ages 9 and 12, right in that tweener market) were heartbroken, as they had really hoped to see the show.