conspiracy theory The RIAA fervently opposes P2P file-sharing. ("Musicians, singers, songwriters and producers don’t get the royalties and fees they’ve earned.") But the music industry is itself working to screw artists out of royalties:

Singer Montel Jordan, who had the 1995 hit, "This is How We Do It," said despite 2 million singles from that release and several albums since, he still owes money to his record label. "I have sold many gold and platinum records. I've never had a moneymaking loss and yet ... I still haven't recouped," Jordan said.

No, many artists are discovering that they're better off getting exposure through P2P systems:

"Because we're shut out of (the major labels') distribution system, we have to get our records out, we have to get our records heard, whatever way we can," said Hall, director of publicity and promotions for Durham, N.C.-based Merge. "If it means giving it to Napster, so be it. ... We have to find some way to let people know that the record is here."

Indeed, with massive radio consolidation and payola, it's mostly the major-label-approved bands who get radio exposure. Internet Radio could help fill the gap, if it weren't being burdened out of business with impossible royalty requirements. To recap, a cartel of record labels conspires with an oligopoly of pop music stations to play only cartel-approved bands. Meanwhile, the cartel works to shut down alternative distribution channels. But it's all about the poor, starving artists. Right? -- Incidentally, during the Napster trial, CD sales were up and the RIAA claimed: "In view of the healthy state of the US economy, it would be surprising if record sales did not increase. Common sense [sic] suggests that sales would have increased even more without Napster." And now that we've run into a little economic downturn?

While the RIAA cites both the recession and the aftermath of September 11 as key factors in the decline of record sales, it says that online piracy and CD burning also played a large factor in the industry's woes.

In other words: Sales up, blame Napster; sales down, blame Napster. Brilliant.