Record Companies Resort To Different Tactics To Collect Money

Record companies have apparently found a new tactic to cash in on royalties. As we are well aware, at first these businesses sued individual users who illegally downloaded music. But this approach to collecting money in order to recover from major financial loss has destroyed their public image.

In lieu of lowering the price of albums in order to go up against the free music circulating through the internet, the music industry has turned to collection agencies who are now taking legal action against cellphone companies over royalties from ring tones. They claimed that ring tones counted as public performances so cell phone companies should be obligated to pay performance fees. The courts quickly renounced this claim.

Despite this unfruitful endeavour to collect on royalties, Broadcast Music Inc is now suing T-Mobile over ring back tones, alleging that the mobile carrier is selling them without licensing agreements. Unlike ring tones, which play publically when someone calls, ring back tones are only heard specifically by the person calling. Instead of hearing a cellphone dialing, the caller will hear a song that was chosen by the cell owner.

Music lovers are quick to point out the contradictory nature of this lawsuit. If ringtones that can be heard by anyone around a cellphone that is being called, do not equate to a public performance, it seems absurd to sue the mobile carriers over a ringback tone that can be heard only by the caller. Record companies seem to be grasping at straws as they suffer from huge financial losses.

It does not seem that lowering the cost of CDs and DVDs is an idea that has occurred to the major companies. There are still a number of music fans out there that prefer to collect and own the media, however with prices constantly spiking, downloading music for free seems very tempting. CDs generally go on sale for about seventeen dollars.

A few bands have bypassed the issue of free music downloads through creative tactics. Radiohead, an alternative rock band, built a website where fans can obtain the mp3s for free, or for a donation. Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor made a similar site. The music industry’s unsuccessful lawsuits and declining public image leads one to believe that thinking outside of the box and lower pricing may be more effective than bullying money out of mobile carriers and individual users.

Mallory Megan is employed by a debt collection company. Also she composes articles on business, finance, consumer spending and collection agencies. Also published at Record Companies Resort To Different Tactics To Collect Money.

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