If it wasn't clear before, it is now: the RIAA cares absolutely nothing about its artists or their music. This was made abundantly apparent last night on local Atlanta TV station FOX5, when news correspondent Stacey Elgin reported that DJ Drama and Don Cannon were arrested for "making and selling 'illegal CDs.'"

A SWAT team raided the popular mixtape DJs' Walker Street studio and confiscated at least 50,000 CDs, computers, recording equipment, money, bank statements, and cars. 17 people were detained, but Drama and Cannon were both arrested. Saying the RIAA had investigated the business for a while before the raid, RIAA representative Matthew Kilgo expressed eyebrow-raised amazement at the two's Gangsta Grillz franchise: "These guys are actively advertising online. They've got a website that they're advertising from. That's where you place your order, and that's how the orders are shipped out."

Wait, they have a website?!! Criminals!

Kilgo also pointed out that some unnamed statistics show that "up to 900% profit can be made just from the resale of counterfeit CDs," and it's great that Kilgo is so focused on the facts, except for the little one that Drama and Cannon aren't just copying T.I. and Lil Wayne albums onto cheap CD-Rs.

Gangsta Grillz mixtapes are in such high demand because of their focus on exclusive content, and since artists often use them as promotional tools for their official albums, record labels usually condone-- if not outright encourage-- them.

Adding insult to injury, Fulton County police officer Major E. A. Platt said, "In this case, we didn't find drugs or weapons, but it's not uncommon for us to find other contraband when we execute a search warrant."

Ah, okay, so you didn't find any of those things, but since "it's not uncommon" to find them in similar raids, you might as well have found them? WTF!!

Elgin ended her hard-hitting report by saying, "Authorities tells us this is a big problem in Atlanta, because Atlanta is known as the hub for the Southeast. They say anytime anybody wants a CD, they know they can find it in Atlanta."

Hey, hold on a second, maybe this whole thing is one big joke. I mean, that couldn't be serious. Right, RIAA? Right?

Ganstagrillz.com is currently "shut down and under investigation," but you can email Matthew Kilgo with your thoughts and feelings about his raid at MKilgo@RIAA.com.

Video: FOX5 Atlanta: Downtown Raid Nets Illegal CDs [from the record industry's ongoing quest to end music]


FROM: www.pitchforkmedia.com