Inside The RIAA

When I am browsing through billboard.com and other music sites I often see this when an artist reaches a certain level of success in sales “RIAA certified”. I already knew what a gold, platinum, or diamond record but I never cared to know who certifies an album and why; until now.

The RIAA (Recorded Industry Association of America) is an organization that supports major music companies in promoting artist content and promotes financial strength within the industry.  According to RIAA.com “RIAA members create, manufacture and/or distribute approximately 85% of all legitimate recorded music produced and sold in the United States”.  In a nutshell the RIAA protects artist from intellectual property theft such as illegal downloading. The RIAA also conducts research across music channels and makes information available for its members.

The RIAA Gold & Platinum Awards Program tracks album sales and landmark achievements for associated artists. The RIAA awards artist with gold certifications for selling 500,00 units of a song or album. Platinum certifications are awarded to artists who surpass 1,000,000 copies sold. With the evolution of music the RIAA has added on a digital music certification category in 2004, and a ringtone certification category in 2006.

The RIAA also works with federal authorities to curb the digital piracy epidemic that have taken over. Their website goes into extensive detail in explaining copyright laws, describing what online piracy is and even gives their take on what the scope of the problem is.

Membership to the RIAA is open to legitimate record companies that sell music legally within the US. They do not offer any individual memberships but you can access their research database of gold and platinum record subscriptions for a $100 fee for the year.  Once a member of the association you will be protected by RIAA’s anti-piracy staff.

When your ready to really create music legally the RIAA is a membership any legitimate record company should have. 

8 Secrets To Success

It’s an innate feeling to want to become successful. No matter what we do it is our need to succeed. There are many different levels of success. Tying a shoe for the first time, or making your first million dollars are both successes. The common thing about success is the traits we take working towards reaching it. Richard St. John made it his job to find these traits.  After 7 years of attending conferences with successful individuals from all various fields he compiled a catalog of information and turned it into a best selling book 8 To Be Great. 

St. John speaks about these traits in this video clip.  Here are the 8 traits or “secrets” on what it takes to succeed:

·      Passion- “do it for love and not money”

·      Work- hard work pays off but it must be put in

·      Good- “To be successful put you nose down in something and be damn good at it”.

·      Focus- Having a clear goal and staying the course to see that goal through

·      Push- Push through all obstacles. “Push through shyness and self doubt”

·      Serve- “Serve others something of value”

·      Ideas- Come up with ways to do things differently. Be innovative

·      Persist- Persist through failures. The goal is the end point. Do not stop until you reach it.

After listening to St John, and reading these 8 traits you might be thinking, “Everybody knows these traits”. You may be correct, but how many people actually IMPLEMENT these traits? Not only that, but also how many people CONSISTENTLY implement these traits? There is a pretty good chance that if you are following these traits then you are working towards becoming successful in what you do.

St. Johns traits can be applied towards anything worth accomplishing, especially within the music industry. Each step has its own level of mastering that needs to be accomplished before you will see success in what you do. The great thing about these 8 steps is that anybody can follow these steps. It doesn’t require a fancy degree or attending a prestigious school to follow these rules.

As I look to grow within the music industry keeping these 8 traits at the forefront of my mind will keep me on track to succeed. Consistency will ultimately be rewarded with success.