A Reuters essay that AM reports that British-based music company EMI “wants to cut its funding to the industry’s trade bodies… which could deal a blow to the fight against music piracy.” Trade groups are the entities that “represent music companies and the fight against illegal piracy.” amidst the four major label groups: EMI, Warner Music Group Corp. (NYSE: WMG), Universal Music Group, and Sony BMG; the universal Federation of the Phonographic Industry told Reuters that by $130 million each year goes to funding companies like it and the Recording Industry organization of America.

Groups like the RIAA have an urgent mission of course, and that plan would severely limit the fight against piracy, but one music industry giant dropping out certainly would not add too much of a burden. We should not be surprised that EMI is the company to come out with that plan, even before Terra Firma took by in September

the music giant had dropped the digital protection against piracy (Digital Rights Management technology) encoded into its media files.

File sharing and piracy costs the recording industry loads of money every year (Reuters estimates that value in the billions) but it seems clear that the music industry cannot fight piracy while undergoing a major shift absent from the “traditional” markets it has utilized for by 50 years. CD sales are plummeting while digital sales steadily grow. One label may not be able to change how piracy is tackled, but the current DRM-free approach coupled with new resources to market those products might manufacture a difference. What difference, whether any, is still to be seen. Just apply the Radiohead approach to everything and let consumers name the price of music. Many surely have some conscience…

Original post by Richard Driver

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