Job cutbacks are one inevitable result of sustained sales declines. In late March, the ailing music industry began to shed excess workers in an effort to reach profitability, with <A HREF="http://www.sonymusic.com">Sony Music</A> and <A HREF="http://www.bmg.com">Bertelsmann Music Group</A> announcing significant reductions in their workforces.
Last year in late October, Universal Music Group finally <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/11476/">announced</A> its first set of SACD titles and the high-rez format's supporters jumped for joy. Then, at the January 2003 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Universal stood on the podium next to Sony and announced several key SACD releases from the Police, Peter Gabriel, and others.
The nascent satellite radio industry has entered a critical phase, with both <A HREF="http://www.xmradio.com">XM Radio</A> and <A HREF="http://www.siriusradio.com">Sirius Satellite Radio</A> posting losses for the fourth quarter. Combined, the two companies have yet to sign up a half-million subscribers.
It's no secret that the music industry has added watermarking to its arsenal in an effort to restrict how audio content is used. With SACD, DVD-Audio, and <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/11604/">now CD</A>, audio watermarking has been used mainly for digitally stored content. But the music business also has problems with live concert bootlegs as well as bootlegs surfacing after special broadcast events.
Corey Greenberg channels his heroes Beavis and Butthead to review the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/804/">NHT SuperZero loudspeaker and SW2 subwoofer</A>. As CG explains, the NHT may be the first speaker "that really <I>kicks ass</I>—one that offers true high-end, full-range sound, all for under $1000." <I>Huh-huh, huh-huh.</I>
Both XM and Sirius satellite radio systems have recently announced they have enough financing to keep afloat for another year or so. Reader Stephen M. Rose wants to know if you would be interested in digital satellite radio if audiophile-grade receivers hit the market?
This week's Soapbox finds reader Mark Gdovin lamenting the lack of tone controls on modern audiophile preamps. Do you look for tone controls when you purchase a preamp?
The US music industry is fighting a war on several fronts—industrial piracy in foreign countries, casual piracy in the States, unhappiness among consumers, and disagreements with artists (see related story).
Audiophiles know <A HREF="http://www.linn.co.uk">Linn</A> as a high-end consumer electronics company, creator of such products as the legendary LP12 turntable, compact amps, preamps, and speakers, and the innovative <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/497/">Kivor</A> hard-disk music server.
Record labels have found that CDs with built-in restriction technologies have not worked in all CD players, have been <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/11341/">incompatible</A> with some computers, and have engendered considerable backlash from irate consumers. But why should that stop them?