[aredington]

The media industry created a way to sustainably undergo the capital expenditures necessary for high quality studio recording, and the mass production and distribution of physical media communicating those studio recordings. It extracted rents in the forms of usurous recording contracts, hugely divergent pricing from their costs, and avaricious assignment and stewardship of copyrights.

Technology has reduced the cost of transmitting the information in recordings to the trivial level that serving someone a glass of water costs.

A combination of technology and prior capitalization has driven down the cost of studio recording, both lowering the necessary a prior knowledge to record well, and putting excellent mastering tools in the hands of many at low cost.

What precise value are the members of the RIAA providing today? Please demonstrate how these members provide an essential value that cannot be shouldered by individual artists (e.g. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis)