The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has a lot to do with the music industry across the US. The main goal of this association is to manage good music quality and protect the copy right restricted music. RIAA accomplishes the same by taking legal actions against the people who try to violate its set of rules. Illegal download of music has been one of the major concerns of RIAA. No free download is allowed for any copyright protected music. Many online music websites had to shut down, for they have been threatened to be sued by RIAA. RIAA therefore plays an important role in any kind of music download. Following is a brief explanation about the role of RIAA in terms of music downloads.

No piracy will be tolerated says RIAA. Many people have been reported to make commercial use of copyright protected music. People tend to illegally make multiple copies of music, after downloading them from the net. Later the music is burnt into multiple CDs and sold. This hits the music industry and its revenues, says RIAA. Anyone and everyone is prohibited to download any music without permission, and serious actions would be taken against the defaulters.

RIAA is strictly against P2P music sharing. It was in the year 2000 that steps were taken to constrain the P2P trading of music. Although the trading has significantly been reduced since 2004, it still exists today. The war against P2P sharing is still on by RIAA. Not only the traders, but the individuals are also prohibited from P2P music sharing.

RIAA has actively been educating people about its policies. It has especially targeted the youth. Many seminars, forum discussions, and presentations are conducted to make the students aware of RIAA’s set of rules and guidelines.Many colleges and universities have been approached by RIAA to help it in this campaign. Universities and colleges have therefore, not only educated their students about the same but also ensured that no illegal music download is done inside the university or college premises.

RIAA is not against copying a CD for personal use. An individual can burn a copy of his legally bought CD. What raises the eyebrows is when the copying is done for commercial use. People making copies for illegal sales would be sued by RIAA.

RIAA is not against the latest tools and technologies that keep coming into the market and make it possible to pirate the music. The organization feels that the technology is not to be blamed, but the people who misuse it.

RIAA also believes that pirated music hurts the artists, for their music is played on low quality CDs and without their official consent. The consent here is referred to legally buying the music. “It makes people listen to poor quality music that was actually developed with so much hard work” is what RIAA believes

Although RIAA has a lot to say in its defense, many people do not find its tactics acceptable. Many have also claimed that music would die as a result of RIAA policies.