Dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century, the music industry may finally be settling into an uneasy acceptance that its market and business model have changed. Only two months after the successful launch of Apple's iTunes Music Store, <A HREF="http://www.billboard.com"><I>Billboard</I></A> magazine announced that it would begin accounting for downloads in its weekly music rankings.
Beginning in November 1996, Sam Tellig, Muse Kastanovich, and John Atkinson took turns with the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/873/">Musical Fidelity X-10D line-level preamplifier</A>. "I'll reveal the true identity of X-10D in a moment," Tellig writes. "But I'll say straight off that for those of you with such CD players as the Marantz CD 63, RadioShack Optimus CD-3400, <I>etc</I>, this may be the most cost-effective CD upgrade ever to come down the pike."
BMG and <A HREF="http://www.sunncomm.com">SunnComm</A> Technologies revealed last week that they have entered into a "strategic worldwide" licensing agreement and revenue deal to add restriction technology to CDs in an effort to reduce piracy and the unauthorized duplication of music. The companies report that the agreement will enable the use of SunnComm's newest proprietary CD restriction system, known as MediaMax CD-3 Technology, on BMG discs.
Harman International announced July 1 that it will close its Madrigal facility in Middletown, CT on August 30 as it continues to consolidate and reorganize its high-end brands under the <A HREF="http://www.harmanspecialtygroup.com/">Harman Specialty Group</A> banner. Although the name Madrigal was itself not used as a brand on audio products, it had been the umbrella under which Harman had produced and distributed its Mark Levinson, Revel, Audio Access, and (<A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/11612/">recently discontinued</A>) Proceed brands.
The science of recording music is, to apply a metaphor from a very different context, akin to "breaking a butterfly on a wheel" (footnote 1). The art of recording is to make it appear as though that pinned insect could still take wing. I have been devoted to both the science and the art of recording music since 1965, when I was given a Grundig ¼" open-reel tape recorder as a birthday present. You could even say that my evolving interest in audio and my current position at the helm of <I>Stereophile</I> date back to my finding out how different a Shure SM57 dynamic cardioid microphone sounded from a Reslo Ribbon, even in mono, even at 3¾ips, when captured on that Grundig.
Radio and then television used to be formidable sources for exposure to new music, but the Internet has taken over for many people. How do <I>you</I> discover good music?
The numbers are up for <A HREF="http://www.siriusradio.com">Sirius Satellite Radio</A>. On June 23, the New York–based digital broadcaster announced that it had exceeded 100,000 subscribers for its 100-channel music/news/entertainment service. Sirius offers 60 channels of commercial-free music and 40 channels of news, sports, talk shows, comedy, and other programming.
Last October, US Senate Commerce Committee chairman and former presidential hopeful John McCain hosted NBC's long-running comedy show <I>Saturday Night Live</I>. In a spoof of the political talk show <I>Hardball</I>, McCain did a devastating impression of US Attorney General John Ashcroft, a fellow Republican. Speaking of homeland security, the <I>faux</I> Ashcroft intoned, "This country won't be safe until every American is in jail."
Apple announced last week that music fans have downloaded over five million songs from its iTunes Music Store since its launch two months ago. In addition, the company reports that over 46% of the songs have been purchased as albums, and over 80% of the over 200,000 songs available on the online store have been purchased at least once.
Starting in 1984, Anthony H. Cordesman and Martin Colloms filed several reports on the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/868/">Magnepan Magneplanar MGIIIA loudspeaker</A>. Cordesman wrote, "In a world which seemed doomed to finding out just how small and dull it could make acoustic-suspension boxes, the Magnepans reminded me that speakers could produce a large open soundstage, real dynamics, and musical life."