Knowing Trade Organizations

RIAA

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a well-known organization that works with various artists and recording companies within the music industry. The RIAA has several purposes including certifying sales awards, protecting intellectual property, and conducting market research. It is much different from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP), which handles various licensing and distribution of royalties.

The RIAA researches current trends within the music industry by observing physical and digital sales of music. The organization does this by keeping track of net shipments, which consists of the number of shipments record companies send to retail stores minus the returns the record companies receive from the retail stores for albums that remain unsold. The Music Notes Blog argues that this number is much more accurate than other numbers that other researchers might use. This research helps with the RIAA’s Gold and Platinum Awards Program, which acknowledges music artists based on the number of albums or singles sold. The program started in 1958 and has shaped the music industry ever since. The Gold and Platinum Awards Program gives artists a goal to work towards and allows consumers to compare artists based on this standard. An album or single is considered “Gold” once it sells 500,000 copies, “Platinum” when it sells 1,000,000 copies, and “Diamond” when it sells 10 million copies (RIAA).  With this standard, new and emerging artists are able to compare themselves against the great legends that have made music history and strive to achieve the same someday. The program even has a searchable database where anyone can search for an artist and observe the awards that particular artist has won for each album or single.

The RIAA website has several credible news sections one specifically targeted towards the music industry and another just for Gold and Platinum awards. These resources are invaluable to staying current within the industry. Utilizing research and knowledge will further careers and business prospects.

Yet another important facet of the RIAA is their piracy advocacy program. The RIAA recognizes piracy as an ongoing problem due to advancements in technology and works to educate consumers about various copyright laws and issues. On their website, the RIAA gives detailed definitions, descriptions, and examples of copyright law and how copyrights might be infringed without purposely meaning to. This information can be read here. Lack of knowledge pertaining to the law is not a valid excuse when it comes to the courts. Aside from having this valuable information on the website, the RIAA provides resource links for others in order to help stop piracy.

The Recording Industry Association of America is clearly a dominant force in shaping the industry from certifying awards to helping stop crime. The RIAA not only has the power to change the industry by inspiring artists to work towards Gold or Platinum but to change the industry when it comes to educating others about current laws and policies as well. Keeping current with this trade organization will only be beneficial to those in the industry.