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In an "increasingly complicated and competitive media environment," public broadcasting intends to be there. So declared the Corporation for Public Broadcasting on March 30, when it announced an almost $2 million investment in projects for National Public Radio and Public Interactive. CPB has long held the intellectual high ground in broadcasting, and its new investments are intended to continue that tradition. The goal of the program is to create "new content and services which will broaden the public square of ideas and civic discourse," according to a corporate press release.

Thirty-five years after their heyday, the Beatles remain one of the preeminent phenomena of the modern age. More than 400 books have been written about them, both as a group and as individuals.

Next to join the online ATRAC parade, Warner Music Group announced last week that it has agreed to license the ATRAC3 audio compression technology from Sony, for use in the electronic distribution of music. Warner says it expects to launch its electronic distribution business during the second half of 2000, using ATRAC3 on a non-exclusive basis.

The legal molasses in which MP3.com is mired got thicker and deeper in mid-March, when MPL Communications launched a lawsuit against the Internet music company. MPL, ex-Beatle Paul McCartney's publishing house, joined the attack begun months ago by the Recording Industries Association of America. McCartney's firm filed suit in a New York US District Court against the San Diego–based startup over copyrights on intellectual properties owned by MPL, whose catalog includes McCartney's solo work, as well as the works of Buddy Holly, Hoagy Carmichael, Sammy Cahn, and other songwriters and performers. MPL was joined in the suit by Peer International, which owns the work of the late Latina star Selena.

For "Fine Tunes" #16, Jonathan Scull offers sage advice on handling the often ephemeral problem of microphonics in audio systems. "So here I am expounding on the tendency of audio components—especially tubes, capacitors, and resistors—to become microphonic, and you're wondering how you can find out if there's any of that shakin' goin' on in your system. And you want to do it easily and for next to nothing," he sez. The solutions await.

Last week, e.Digital announced a licensing agreement to incorporate Sony's ATRAC3 sound-compression technology into e.Digital's portable Internet music-player designs. e.Digital claims that its multi-codec platform, including ATRAC3 support, can be incorporated into a variety of products including portable digital music players, home and automotive stereos, and functionally enhanced wireless phones.

The courtship between two music-retailing giants is over. CDnow and Columbia House have decided to call off a merger that had been in discussion since last summer. The official explanation from executives close to the deal was a sharp decline in Columbia House's profitability over the past several months.