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The European Commission isn't especially fond of joint ventures by international media conglomerates. Last year, the EC successfully squashed a proposed merger of EMI and Warner Music Group on the grounds that WMG's parent company, AOL Time Warner (then simply Time Warner), combined with the UK's biggest name in music, would create "a virtual monopoly" of the European music market. A few months later, merger discussions between EMI and Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) similarly went nowhere. EC investigators also looked into price-fixing in the European CD market early this year.

They've been around for years, under a variety of guises and from an evolving list of manufacturers and distributors. But the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/361/">BBC LS3/5a loudspeakers</A> still cling to their legendary status. We provide not only J. Gordon Holt's original 1977 review for <I>Stereophile</I>, but also follow-ups from 1984, 1989, and 1993. Read about the little speaker that could.

More good news for budget-conscious audiophiles who are waiting for that all-in-one universal high-resolution audio player: Yet another chip manufacturer is announcing a decoder IC that will allow new DVD machines to untangle just about any audio file format. Last week, LuxSonor Semiconductors joined the growing list (see <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/11059/">previous</A&gt;) of chip manufacturers that are including both DVD-Audio and SACD in one package.

First, the sobering reality: Among the world's billions of music lovers, probably a million or fewer are true audiophiles, for whom sound quality is a primary concern. The uncritical majority will embrace any audio technology that offers economy and convenience. Case in point: the popularity of the MP3 digital format, widely derided by audiophiles for its compressed dynamics and lack of detail, but adopted readily by the general public because of its ease of use.

Here's an audio riddle for you. Question: What's erasable but not recordable? Answer: Downloadable music from <A HREF="http://www.fullaudio.com">FullAudio Corporation</A>.

Music industry attorneys may not enjoy much of a summer vacation. The season got off to a litigious start with a flurry of lawsuits by and against record labels and music-based websites.

With the proliferation of audio and video formats based on the 5.25" disc (CD, DVD-Audio, SACD, CD-R, CD-V, DVD, <I>etc</I>), buying a universal player that can decode anything thrown at it is many a consumer's Holy Grail. But to date, the vast majority of manufacturers (Pioneer being a notable exception) have been taking sides, choosing to exclude either SACD or DVD-Audio playback from their machines.