Hi Yeoman nice to have you here bringing another aspect of the topic to the table
Most of us can recognise some benefit that the RIAA has brought to the music industry but for each one we can cite many attacks of a trivial or petty nature upon the consumer, as well as ensuring their members are held in a near monopoly when independent lables and artists come along and try to get airplay on the radio stations you mentioned.
I think the market is slowly changing for the better but launching legal assuallts on the poor, young and the old gains them the deserved reputation of a bully.
Are they really going to go belly up because a few housebound people downloads a poor copy of something they may well never bother with otherwise ?
There are plenty of variables and options in the financial mix here but selling product should be the main thrust of their activities, and with the money saved from not suing the big companies like Napster and Kazzaa we would see the price of the product drop and that in itself would stimulate more positive publicity and sales, that would allow a further price drop due to economy of scale.
Or they could just continue on the losing end of the "hearts and minds" battle...
