The <A HREF="http://www.riaa.com">Recording Industry Association of America</A> (RIAA) may issue a general amnesty to the music fans who have amassed libraries of favorite tunes by downloading them over the Internet, according to information leaked to <I>Billboard</I>, the <I>Hollywood Reporter</I>, and other publications the first week of September.
If the new satellite radio products are any indication, the format has a bright future. During the first week of September, Kenwood and Antex Electronics announced new <A HREF="http://www.sirius.com">Sirius</A> satellite receivers, and XM Radio has already dropped the price on its recently introduced "XM PCR," a controller that lets you listen to XM via your computer.
Rumors persist that CD-Rs can degrade quickly under some conditions. Have you had any problems with discs you have recorded?
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) may spend the rest of its associated life in litigation—as either as the initiator or the recipient of actions intended to determine who can use its products, under which circumstances they can do so, and how much they should pay, assuming they are allowed to use them.
Late summer isn't typically a time when new audio products appear, but on August 29 we received two noteworthy announcements.
"At a mere $65,000," Martin Colloms states, the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/909/">Wilson Audio Specialties X-1/Grand SLAMM loudspeaker system</A> "could be regarded as something of a bargain." MC then goes on to explain himself in great detail. The "longest, most thorough speaker review we have ever published!" notes John Atkinson, wiping the sweat from his brow.
Although the CD was successfully released into the music industry gene pool 20 years ago, several companies are still tinkering with its DNA in order to assist record labels in restricting how consumers use their discs.
Guitars have been played for hundreds of years, and almost every musical style has at least some arrangements for guitar. So who do you like as a guitarist, no matter what style or type of music?
Responding to scrutiny by federal legislators, the <A HREF="http://www.riaa.com">Recording Industry Association of America</A> (RIAA) is backing away from the pursuit of small-scale copyright violators. After issuing more than 1000 subpoenas against alleged music pirates, the trade group announced on August 18 that it would go after only big fish in its efforts to contain the file-sharing epidemic.
More from the August issue: Larry Greenhill updates his system with the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/905/">Mark Levinson No.436 monoblock power amplifier</A>. LG says, "I was concerned when [Mark Levinson] discontinued its entire 300 series of dual-mono amplifiers, but the company reassured me that they had a suitable replacement in the No. 436." Greenhill decides for himself.