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...Recording Industry Association of America (or RIAA) is a trade group that represents the recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of a large number of private corporate entities such as record labels and distributors, which the RIAA claims "create, manufacture and/or distribute approximately 90% of all legitimate sound recordings produced and sold in the United States.".[1]
The RIAA was formed in 1952 primarily to administer the RIAA equalization curve, a technical standard of frequency response applied to vinyl records during manufacturing and playback. The RIAA has continued to participate in creating and administering technical standards for later systems of music recording and reproduction, including magnetic tape, cassette tapes, digital audio tapes, CDs and software-based digital technologies.
The RIAA also participates in the collection, administration and distribution of music licenses and royalties.
The association is responsible for certifying gold and platinum albums and singles in the USA. For more information about sales data see List of best selling albums and List of best selling singles.
The RIAA's stated goals[1] are:
to protect intellectual property rights worldwide and the First Amendment rights of artists;
to perform research about the music industry;
to monitor and review relevant laws, regulations and policies.
Contents [hide]
1 Company structure and Sales
2 Sales certification
2.1 Digital sales certification
3 Efforts against copyright infringement
3.1 Stance on backups
3.2 Efforts against file sharing
3.3 Lawsuits against recording and distribution technologies
3.4 The RIAA "Dirty Dozen"
3.5 Legislation
4 Efforts against censorship
5...
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