LATEST ADDITIONS

<I>Caveat: This article is written by a non-audiophile. I own and listen to several thousand recordings through about $2500 worth of a rather motley assortment of audio components. Though very well informed musically, and a disciplined listener, Audiophilia remains for me a storied land. Various desultory discussions with Larry Archibald and John Atkinson, some going back almost two years, about the possibly refreshing, certainly outr&#233; (for these pages) outlook of a certified Audio Ignoramus, have finally borne astringent fruit in this diversion of an article.</I>

The technology exists to create high-end audio programming that could finally solve the problem audiophiles have had with FM radio for years. But would you be interested enough to buy the equipment and/or pay for the service?

The <A HREF="http://www.webnoize.com">WebNoize</A&gt; three-day conference took place last week in Los Angeles, mixing record-company executives with Internet geeks, all trying to find profitable ways to distribute music online. Tom Roli, publisher of the Webnoize website, set the tone for the event, stating that "the industry is facing great change and uncertainty due to emerging technologies, shifting global markets, and media revolutions."

Internet audio continues to expand. Last week, at the first WebNoize conference, held in Los Angeles, <A HREF="http://www.jamtv.com/">JamTV/Rolling Stone Network</A> and <A HREF="http://www.real.com/">RealNetworks, Inc.</A> announced the debut of <A HREF="http://www.rsradio.com/">Rolling Stone Radio</A>, a new Internet audio service offering music in several genres. Rock star David Bowie announced that he would serve as a disc jockey for the new venture. <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com">Amazon.com</A&gt; has also signed on to participate as a music retailer.

In the age before recordings, music was a service business. Composers wrote for their patrons, and musicians performed for money. In the days since Edison's inventions, music has become a commodity business in which record companies stockpile large inventories and attempt to move them into the market of music lovers through a dense network of distributors and retailers. For established artists, the service aspect of music---playing for pay---now exists primarily to support the commodity business. For developing artists, public performance is a form of self-promotion to aid the search for a recording contract.

I have been informed that there was a serious error at the shipping department. The September and October issues of <I>Stereophile</I> and <I>Stereophile Guide to Home Theater</I> have been sent via a very slow shipping method. This was due to a misunderstanding between the magazines' new printer and the new subscription mailing house.