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> 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."
MP3-formatted audio files are considered to be the most popular streaming technology on the Internet, but the major record labels have so far shunned the format, which doesn't offer as much security and pay-per-download options as they'd like. Several announcements last week coincided with the <A HREF="http://www.webnoize.com">WebNoize</A> conference in Los Angeles and revealed what a few of the labels are thinking.
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> 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.
<B>VARIOUS ARTISTS: <I>Los Super Seven</I></B><BR> Radv/RCA Nashville 67689-2 (CD). 1998. Dan Goodman, exec. prod.; Steve Berlin, prod.; Dave McNair, eng.; Fred Rennert, Steve Gamberoni, asst. engs. AAD? TT: 41:36<BR> Performance <B>****?</B><BR> Sonics <B>****</B>
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.
You might recall that ditty from childhood about the little engine that could (I <I>think</I> I can, I <I>think</I> I can, I <I>think</I> I can...). It's an apt metaphor for high-end audio. In traversing the aural sepulchers of last winter's Consumer Electronics Show and the summer's HI-FI Show, I routinely encountered one divine sound system after another. Yet while I never tire of transcendent sonics, eventually I become inured to the procession of celestial, cost-no-object speakers. It's like having a white-light experience, then returning to the gritty reality of life on earth, where for most of us cost is not merely the object, but the determining factor in finding an optimal balance among audio components.
The common wisdom of "bigger is better" doesn't always hold true in audio. High-end speaker systems, for example, have been getting bigger and smaller at the same time. Which trend do you favor?