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The "Big Five" of the recorded music industry is one step closer to becoming the "Big Four," according to late-January reports from Frankfurt, Germany, home of <A HREF="http://www.bertelsmann.de/">Bertelsmann AG</A>. Bertelsmann is the parent company of <A HREF="http://www.bmg.com/">Bertelsmann Music Group</A>, which has been in merger discussions for several months with the United Kingdom's <A HREF="http://www.emigroup.com/"&gt; EMI Group PLC</A>. Discussions are near completion, according to a BMG official.

After a frustrating late-night duel with evil recording gremlins, JA called it a day. But the next morning he was back at the controls to record Canadian pianist Robert Silverman for what would subsequently become one of <I>Stereophile</I>'s popular audiophile recordings: <I>Intermezzo: Works for Piano by Brahms</I>. In <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//musicrecordings/311/"><I>Intermezzo</I>: The Santa Barbara Sessions</A>, writer Thomas Norton runs down the key events that finally resulted in a completed analog master tape, with engineering from Water Lily Acoustics' Kavichandran Alexander.

Despite the best efforts of Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan to extend an unprecedented economic boom, the nation's economy is slowing. The slowdown is causing negative repercussions in many sectors&mdash;including the music retailing business and consumer electronics manufacturing.

A billion-dollar loss for the parent company may be a big gain for performers under contract to <A HREF="http://www.wmg.com/">Warner Music Group</A>, who will benefit from cross-promotional efforts aimed at millions of <A HREF="http://www.aol.com/">America Online</A> subscribers beginning this month.

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.atcsd.com">American Technology Corp.</A> (ATC) announced that three additional patents on its loudspeaker technologies have been granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office (see <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10616/">previous story</A>). The company also announced that it has acquired the rights to "strategic" patents from the former Carver Corp. covering a variety of audio reproduction and amplifier technologies.

I have a passion for great speaker designs at affordable prices, and with modern driver, crossover, and cabinet technologies making innovative strides, many serious high-end speaker designers are turning their attentions to coming up with the next great budget speaker. All audiophiles need affordable speakers, whether to recommend to friends to lure them into our hobby or to set up multiple, less costly systems in our own houses. I currently run a main reference system, a vacation-house system, a recording-studio system, a computer system, a portable system I take to parties, a car system, <I>and</I> an office system. I insist on having music playing constantly, wherever I am, unless my wife or son tells me to turn it off&mdash;which happens increasingly often these days.

What's it take to compete on the bleeding edge of digital? Foresight, commitment of resources, and lots of money. Of course, it's <I>all</I> fundamentally about money, so we shouldn't be surprised that the audiophile's emotional needs aren't paid much respect by the large international manufacturing and marketing concerns stalking the earth today. Megaglom <I>vs</I> Cockroachacus. [<I>Sigh</I>] Where <I>are</I> those pesky miniature princess twins when you need 'em?