Rip, Burn, Return

from the let's-see-how-long-this-lasts dept

A record store in New Jersey, tired of losing sales to online download services and file-sharing, has started a "Rip, Burn, Return" policy, according to The Wall Street Journal. Customers can buy a CD, then return it within 10 days and get 70% the purchase price back as store credit. Three guesses -- and the first two don't count -- as to what the RIAA's response was: a warning about "copyright violations, illegal record rentals or "rentals in disguise.'" The record store could serve as a lesson to the RIAA and its members, which have failed to adapt their business model to change with the time. The shop's owners have started selling a lot more ancillary music merchandise, like licensed clothing and accessories and vintage records, and plans to start selling downloads online and in-store. Instead of reacting to any new development with legal threats, the entertainment industry might want to try to make friends and learn a thing or two from some of these people.