Two of D.C.'s biggest entertainment trade associations, the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America, are facing budget and staff cuts, according to news sources.
The RIAA recently let go 20 to 25 people, or about 20 percent of its staff. It also declined to fill positions that have been vacated, according to CNET News. In all, the RIAA has reduced staff by 31 people -- or just under 30 percent -- to about 75 people. The association's current CEO, Mitch Bainwol, will remain at the helm.
A spokesman noted that the job cuts follow the decline in the recording industry's revenue, as a result of piracy, the economy and a steep decline in CD sales. He noted that in 1999, the industry's revenue was $14.5 billion. By 2008, revenue had fallen to $8.5 billion.
The MPAA is also facing cuts. The association's six-member board clipped the group's budget by $20 million this year and laid off about 20 percent of its staff and consultants in Los Angeles and Washington, the Hollywood Reporter writes. The story also says that the MPAA extended CEO Dan Glickman's contract through the summer of 2010, rather than extending it for multiple years. Glickman's current contract expires this June.
In National Journal's 2008 biannual salary survey, which is based on 2005 and 2006 tax information, we reported that MPAA's annual revenue was $82.1 million and the RIAA's revenue was $46.8 million.
--Bara Vaida
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