This is the vision that keeps the RIAA up at night:

Imagine a world where musicians keep the copyright to their music and make $5 or $6 per album sold instead the current $1 or $2. This is a model being proposed by Terry McBride, CEO of Nettwerk Music Group. With sales of CDs continuing a downward spiral, he realizes that the music industry needs to make some changes.

Right now, there are a gazillion middle men (most of whom subtract value) in the music business, and the upshot is that artists collect virtually nothing from CD sales. Here's what could change that:

McBride’s model calls for artists to record under their own labels. They retain ownership of their music. Companies like Nettwerk take the place of all of the different players who are typically involved in selling CDs. This means any profit has a much smaller split, with all involved able to take more home. In addition, keeping the copyright in one place makes it easier to sell songs to advertising agencies, to approve free downloads for promotion, or to do whatever it takes to market the music. Every move doesn’t require multiple approvals.

That would be like a breath of fresh air in the industry, and it's exactly what the RIAA doesn't want. They want the status quo, so that they and all their middle men can continue to subtract value and rake in profits.

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