The RIAA continues its search for entities it can blame for the ever-increasing amount of music piracy its experiencing. Or, at least, that’s what I glean from <a href=”http://riaa.com/blog.php?content_selector=riaa-news-blog&blog_selector=Clear-Facts-&blog_type=&news_month_filter=5&news_year_filter=2012″>a recent blog article</a> wherein they place blame directly on Google for enabling internet users to find pirated content.

> Clearly the current process is not working. Google is routinely directing people to unlawful sources of content, which is clearly at odds with data that suggests most people rely on search engines to identify trusted websites at the top of search results. If Google truly doesn’t want its search results directing people to materials that violate copyright laws, more should be done to address this problem.

Now, you’ll have to forgive my lack of sympathy for the RIAA, but this whole “blame everyone but ourselves” rigamarole has been played out, and it’s time to move on.

How can any reasonably intelligent person find fault with a search engine for their failing business model? Yet this is exactly what the RIAA is doing. They fail to see that their profits are falling not because people are pirating more content, but because their product itself is valued at a lower price. The market simply will not bear the current cost of music. Indeed the market has changed.

I suggest that instead of pointing fingers and blaming others for the decreased market value of their products, they apply their time, money and energy toward rethinking their revenue streams. Instead of fighting the market, play the market. Give the market what it wants and make profit from it. The people they’re fighting against are the very people to whom they want to sell.

It’s time to stop pointing fingers for your lack of revenue, RIAA. It’s time to _start_ giving your customers more of what they want. What do they want, you ask? Well, I think you can figure that one out on your own.