Recordable CD machines are nothing new these days, especially those aimed at the PC market. Those machines that find their way into Desktop PCs can end up doing everything from backing up corporate financial data to mastering CD-ROM titles. Many are used for recording music CDs as well, and so a new CD-Recorder from <A HREF="http://www.smartandfriendly.com">Smart and Friendly</A> has a couple of features thrown in just to excite the audio folk.
In anticipation of the upcoming 1.0 DVD-Audio specification (see <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10236/">previous article</A>), <A HREF="http://www.sonic.com/">Sonic Solutions</A> and <A HREF="http://www.warnerbros.com/frame_moz3_day.html">Warner Music Group</A> wasted no time in announcing their intent to collaborate in creating new multichannel high-density recordings to showcase the new format. Warner was one of the first major labels to deliver music via CD, and Warner's video division has never been shy in their support of Open-DVD for video. So it comes as no surprise that they're one of the first major music houses out of the gate for the audio version of DVD.
A few years ago, when media pundits began discussing the possible ramifications of 500 channels of television, the concept of "narrowcasting" quickly became the buzzword <I>du jour.</I> The idea was that programming in the future would be aimed at increasingly better-defined markets. Rather than an all-sports channel, an astute broadcaster would operate multiple channels devoted to individual sports: an all-basketball channel, for example, or round-the-clock motor sports. Advertising tailored for a tightly defined market might prove more efficient than its shotgun-effect equivalent.
Some optimists in Washington, on Wall Street, and elsewhere predicted that the Asian economic crisis wouldn't reach the United States. But in late August, the financial flu infecting that part of the world, and the ongoing monetary instability in Russia, finally affected North America. As of Friday, August 28th, the <A HREF="http://www.dowjones.com/">Dow Jones</A> Industrial Average was hovering just above 8000, down from a record high of 9337.97 on July 17th. The market decline has affected the whole economy---traditional industries as well as hot-ticket ventures like Internet stocks.
I think I've finally figured out the secret of <I>Stereophile</I>'s success. You, cherished reader, <I>don't</I> read this mag because it's chock full o' reviews of tantalizing audio gear (even though it is). And you <I>don't</I> read this mag because JA and RL strive so hard to keep the literary quotient as hi as the fi (even though they do). And I <I>know</I> you don't read this mag cuz trusting yer own sensory input is a mighty scary proposition indeed so you look to <I>Stereophile</I> as to a Holy Bible that eases your Earthly burden by <I>telling you</I>, Ah say Ah say TAILING YEW what to buy (do you?).
In this age of $70,000-plus "flagship" designs, perhaps $25k is no longer an obscene amount to pay for a pair of loudspeakers. Still, it's <I>mucho dinero</I>. What makes a speaker worth this kind of bread? Does the product's intrinsic value really warrant such a lofty cost, or is it merely a matter of pricing at what the market will bear? The answers to these questions requires careful examination of not only the speaker, but also of the buyer's own soul, priorities, and pocketbook.
Are CD prices too high? Does pricing constrict the amount of music you purchase and listen to? After reading the responses to last week's question, it seems appropriate to ask if you would buy more regular CDs if the price dropped substantially---let's say to around $8 US per disc at retail.
Looks like it might be a while before a profitable formula jells for selling music over the Internet. News this week indicates that one of the largest music retailers, <A HREF="http://www.towerrecords.com">Tower Records</A>, is finally ready to challenge the market, while online distribution pioneer <A HREF="http://www.n2k.com">N2K</A> will be scaling back operations until things steady a bit.
The latest music-piracy statistics have just been released by the <A HREF="http://www.riaa.com/">RIAA</A>, bringing to light several new wrinkles in the ongoing struggle to protect the owners of music copyrights from those who illegally copy and sell protected works. Released August 21, the report details the new problems brought about by CD-R technology and MP3 files distributed via the web.
The <A HREF="http://www.fcc.gov/">Federal Communications Commission</A> is fighting an epidemic called "microradio." The agency has closed 250 unlicensed stations in the past year, most of them low-powered urban pip-squeaks with less than 100W of power and broadcast radii of 10 miles or less. The typical microradio station offers an off-center perspective on local, national, and world events to a listenership of a few hundred people, and loses money in the process.