RIAA Bust’s Local Music Store

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RIAA Cracking Down on Selling Mixtapes

Mixtapes are flooding the industry. Since 50 Cent emerged on the scene, everyone are using mixtapes to spread the word and get their music out to the masses. Everyone from 50 Cent, Diplomats to Snoop Dogg and underground artists put out mixtapes.

Well, it seems that the RIAA is confiscating some inventory from mom and pops shops. Yesterday, Alan Berry, store owner of Berry’s Music in Indianapolis, Indiana, was a victim of this. Berry’s Music stores and wharehouse were raided by RIAA agents and local police authorities. They confiscated $10,000 worth of inventory, most of that were DJs mixtapes.

When asked about the raid, Berry told BallerStatus.net, “There were no counterfeits, just DJ mixes. Like DJ Green Lantern’s latest. Not a booted copy, but the real mix cd.”

Berry’s Music is a local mom and pops music shop. The store has been open for 13 years and Berry boasts that, “When other retailers were hiding their copies of NWA’s Straight Outta of Compton, we had it proudly displayed and playing in the store non-stop”.

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quote:It happened on Tuesday morning/afternoon. First the south side, then us, then the warehouse. A rep from the RIAA and 3 uniformed officers with search warrants came in. It’s not like we were running meth outta the back room or somethin’. Most of these DJs have written permission from record labels to do all these mixes.

The thing I don’t understand is that most of the artists that appear on mixes encourage it. Hell, Paul Bunyon has exclusive freestyles from Dre, 50 Cent and Eminem just for his mixes. You know the artists are all about it.