“Downloading music online from rogue file-sharing networks got 14-year-old Annie Leith sued for thousands of dollars. Now it’s landed her a leading spot on a national ad (view ad via QuickTime here) debuting during the Super Bowl,” Alex Veiga reports for The Associated Press. “Leith, and her 17-year-old sister, Maggie, downloaded 960 songs over a three-year period using the popular Kazaa program. But the free music binge got Leith ensnared in the legal dragnet cast by the Recording Industry Association of America in September.”
“‘We didn’t know it was illegal,’ the high school freshman from New York City’s borough of Staten Island said Friday. The lawsuit was ultimately settled for $3,000. But Leith couldn’t pass up a chance to appear in a nationally televised commercial that put a twist on her costly experience,” Veiga reports. The ad promotes a digital music giveaway offer from Pepsi-Cola and Apple Computer Co.’s iTunes Music Store. Beginning Feb. 1., 100 million bottle caps on a variety of Pepsi soft drinks will include a code for a free song download on iTunes.”
“The RIAA applauded the ad, even though it may serve to remind some of the trade group’s legal campaign, which many music fans thought went too far,” Veiga reports. “‘This ad shows how everything has changed,’ said RIAA chief executive Mitch Bainwol. ‘The debate is not digital versus plastic, it’s legitimate versus illegitimate.'”
Full article here.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Tech TV presents ‘the making of Pepsi, Apple iTunes ad’ story today – January 30, 2004
Pepsi’s iTunes Super Bowl commercial available here via QuickTime – January 30, 2004
Analyst: Pepsi iTunes campaign will generate sales of ‘5-10 million songs per week by summer, or 200 million for the year’ – January 29, 2004
Somebody’s selling a whole lot of sugared water on Apple.com – January 28, 2004
Pepsi ad for Apple iTunes giveaway likely to appear in Super Bowl’s first quarter – January 21, 2003
It’s one thing to break into someone’s house and steal thier property, and another thing entirely to participate in sharing.
Your mother always told you to share
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />
FUD – your rambling postings are a lame attempt to legitimize an activity that is illegal. Should it be? The list of laws that are outdated, unobserved, or that should clearly be changed is long. Does that make them any more or less legitimate? Apparently so in your eyes. Regardless of your arbitrary feelings about the legitimacy of laws, your inobservance of the laws governing the illegal distribution of music is no demonstration of your desire to be a catalyst for change. Your actions only demonstrate your greed. Wanna change the world? Then perform positive actions, not thievery.
Your claim to knowledge of Thomas Jefferson and understanding of the Constitution is laughable. But that is the peril of a little knowledge. It gives the owner a false sense of real understanding.
Hey bob..
the price of an album has zilch to do with the CD technology you twerp.
you have to pay the people who work on the album…
the cost of the freakin’ jewel case/ cd is negligeable.
what? you thought the record companies were making $10 profit on each CD…?
*rolls eyes
Now FUD says that:
“If the musicians don’t get off thier fat asses and come somewhere near me (heck, I’ll travel to the next state, even) I don’t see how they deserve much of my money.”
Is there anybody you DON’T have something bad to say about?
You dislike the labels, the RIAA, and now you’re poking at the artists.
What a terrible life you live being the victim of all these people who have control over the music that you want to have at the price you want to pay.
A 99 cent iTunes song is still incredibly cheap when you adjust for inflation from 40 years ago. I used to pay a dollar for a single in the 60’s. And I still do now. It’s wonderful, it’s amazing! And the technology that makes it easy for ITMS and the labels to deliver the product to me, also benefit ME in shopping, ease of use, storage, and lifespan of the music.
And lastly, it’s MUSIC! It’s entertainment!! Not food or medicine!!
You don’t need it to live, so the pressures of the marketplace decide the price. When people stop buying, or buy less, the price comes down.
Sure, there are things to be fixed for everyone, but they are being fixed.
I don’t understand why we can’t relax and enjoy this thing, unless the perpetual presentation of victimhood is necessary to justify further stealing.
dv
The ad leaves a bad taste with me. The main “abuser” seems to have an attitude of defiance so common among too many teenagers today, and this group’s behavior seems to have been rewarded by being recruited for the promotion. Even ignoring all that, I do not like the spot.
I do have to remember that, it’s a Pepsi spot, not Apple’s.
If you go to any music store in all of new york city (and the boroughs, and out on the island) all cds are 19.99. We don’t have a walmart in the tristate area. I think target sells them cheaper, not sure.
.
“If you go to any music store in all of new york city (and the boroughs, and out on the island) all cds are 19.99. We don’t have a walmart in the tristate area. I think target sells them cheaper, not sure.”
I lived in manhattan for 20 years and you pay more for everything, even a bottle of catsup. It’s a ‘tax’ for access to New York City.
I live about 12 miles outside THE BIG DIRTY NOW, but recently I just joined the BMG music CD online thing, and the prices of CD’s are CHEAP!. And BMG owns or has bought so many other labels that my choice is great… from Classical to Rock.
There was a time when the selection from these clubs was very poor, and I could barely find one CD that I liked. But when I can get White Stripes and Interpol and Coldplay, hey I’m happy.. and they have specials where you can get a bunch for free, if you buy a bunch.
Anyway the advertising is over, but take a look at the record clubs again if you were originally turned off to them the way I was.
So between those and ITMS, I have never been happier in my music buying….
Just my 2 cents.
david vesey
Abomb, when they invent a virtual gascap, the stealing will cease. Until then, music lovers should be in heaven.
someone should nagasaki on atomic bomb’s ass – apologists for the RIAA (to the tune of mutiple posts) are usually the guys with celine dion in their CD collections.
It has started already: can enter the code on iTunes (link from Apple site launches iTunes to enter code)
pkradd:
The more people between me and the music I like the more costs are added. RIAA and whoever else stands between me and the artists I want to hear adds nothin’ to my experience. Someone’s gonna wake up and say direct sales between artist and consumer is the ultimate form of exchange – then make the way possible using current technologies. This can’t come soon enough.
“nova silverpill” – How are simple facts considered apologizing for the RIAA? Gosh, that Celine Dion comment really hurt my feelings. Zing! (Idiot.)
lets say you have a home studio to produce all your songs. Lets say that cost 100,000. Lets say you hire some people to help with it, another 100,000. You hire people and do promotions and make the cds and booklets, another 300,000.
500,000. If that same artists, who spent that money put there song on itunes and the full lets say 75 cents went straight to them they would have to sell 700,000 songs. or 70,000 albums of 10 songs. And that would be to break even. Does anyone know what a typical album sales number?
davidwes wrote:
“Does anyone know what a typical album sales number?”
Well, I DO know that an artist has to sell about 100,000 units to keep in the game with a label.
I think that electronic delivery will lower that number so that an artist and a label can make money with fewer CD’s sold, because the costs involved with producing the physical CD’s will lessen.
This is a good thing.
But because the COST of supporting a band’s efforts can be fairly high, we still need labels who will ‘bet’ on certain groups with their money.
I don’t see a way around this. I don’t see this nirvana of an artist controlled world where they control everything. and keep costs down.
And I’m speaking as an artist who makes money from copyright ownership. I’m a photographer. And my agents market, produce catalogs, manage websites, have sales people, collect from clients. I produce pictures and get a check. There is a NEED for middlemen in the world. For the ARTIST. Otherwise the artist spends half their time being a businessman. I’m sure my clients would prefer that I do all the work and they get the pictures for less.
Like I care.
david vesey