LATEST ADDITIONS

<I>Good Morning America:</I> The war for listeners between XM Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio has seen MLB go to one broadcaster (XM) and Howard Stern to the other. On June 21, Sirius announced an agreement that will put the BBC's popular Radio 1 on a time-shifted broadcast schedule. The time-shift will enable American listeners to hear Radio 1's broadcast day "as it was intended&mdash;with Chris Moyles' <I>Breakfast Show</I> in the morning, Scott Mills' show in the afternoon, and kicking off the weekend with Pete Tong's Friday night <I>Essential Selection</I>," according to a press release.

The music industry and the file-sharing community have been waiting nervously for the impending Supreme Court decision in <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/041105supremes/index.html">MGM <I>vs</I> Grokster</A>, which is expected any day. At stake is not only peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, but the development of future forms of music distribution.

Last week we touched on the importance of reliability in an audio product. What have been your real-world experiences? How reliable have your audio purchases been?

Morten Lauridsen's magisterial work for chorus and orchestra, <I>Lux aeterna</I>, appears in a fresh new recording, in truly excellent sound, on England's Hyperion label. The vocal ensemble Polyphony is accompanied by the Britten Sinfonia; both are led by Stephen Layton. Better yet, in addition to the CD-only version, there is a separate SACD/CD hybrid release (Hyperion SACDA67449), meaning that it is backwardly-compatible with CD players. Furthermore, the SACD layer contains a surround-sound program in addition to the stereo one.

Okay, what does a turntable look like? Take your time&mdash;I'll wait. <I>Dum de dum de dum dum dum...</I> Oh, you're tired of this game already?

Since March, Sony BMG has released "at least 10 commercial titles" employing XCP2 technology developed by UK-based antipiracy company <A HREF="http://www.first4internet.co.uk/">first4Internet</A&gt;. Sony BMG claims that the 10 titles represent "over one million units," but the company steadfastly refuses to specify which titles have XCP2.

<A HREF="http://www.soundsareactive.com/catalogue.php?album=sub2005">Soundsareac…;, an eclectic independent label specializing in "jazz/improv, experimental hip-hop, and electronic artists," is offering a subscription package for its 2005 release schedule. For $35 (US price; the international price is $50), the label will send monthly downloadable MP3 (192kbps) releases for the rest of 2005, four "physical" CDs, and a "tour" DVD titled <I>XN+</I>.