putko's Journal: Just submitted.

The RIAA has finally decided to bust folks selling mixtapes -- starting with Kim's of New York. As with the BSAA enforcement, RIAA thugs accompanied the cops and generally acted like asses. They had a pizza party in the store to celebrate their triumph. Mixtapes are illegal; Copyright holders don't get paid. Still, they've been tolerated by record labels as the best viral marketing method -- musicians routinely release them to test new music. They are not bootlegs in the traditional sense. E.g. 50 cent had five hit mixtapes before he got signed for big bucks; he released them to promote himself after his label dropped him. They are even sold online, openly and increasingly in stores like the one that got raided -- one that any New Yorker has heard of. Here's a decent roundup. Village Voice on the subject, and more from The Voice. Here's a more tinfoil hat crowd article.