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Music Industry Giants Team Up Online

Barry Willis Apr 11, 1999 First Published: Apr 11, 1999

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Two music-industry giants---Bertelsmann">http://www.bmg.com/">Bertelsmann Music Group and Seagram Ltd.'s Universal">http://www.unistudios.com/">Universal Music---have agreed to pool their resources in a joint Internet venture. GetMusichttp://www.getmusic.com/">GetMusic;, as the website will be known, will sell compact discs in direct competition against traditional retailers, other Internet music services, and mail-order music clubs.

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A Chink in the Armor or a Glimmer of False Hope?

Jon Iverson Apr 11, 1999 First Published: Apr 11, 1999

As first reported April 8 in EETimeshttp://www.eetimes.com">EETimes;, Sonyhttp://www.sony.com">Sony; has made known its plans for the first generation of Super Audio Compact Disc (SACD) players, to be released in Japan this May. For the last several months, Sony has been suggesting that the SACD format would be going head to head with the competing DVD-Audio format, despite overtures from the DVD-Audio Working Group to join in a single all-encompassing specification.

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Added to the Archives This Week:

Stereophile Staff Apr 11, 1999 First Published: Apr 11, 1999

A surreal event took place at the 1991 Audio Engineering Society Convention when loudspeaker cables were put on the witness stand. Robert Harley details the amazing event as it unfolded, along with many unexpected twists and turns, in "Audio">http://www.stereophile.com//asweseeit/107/">Audio McCarthyism."

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It's Been a Busy Year for Pirates and The Man

Jon Iverson Apr 11, 1999 First Published: Apr 11, 1999

Last week, The Recording">http://www.riaa.com">Recording Industry Association of America released its year-end anti-piracy statistics, which it says reveal an increase in the number of counterfeit and pirate CDs and CD-recordables confiscated in 1998. "We've had tremendous success this year with our anti-piracy initiatives," said Frank Creighton, senior vice president and director of anti-piracy. "Between the many CD plants around the country adopting better business practices to the scores of universities signing up for our copyright education program---we're making strides on all fronts."

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Jonathan Scull new full-time senior editor at Stereophile

John Atkinson Apr 11, 1999 First Published: Apr 11, 1999

Stereophile magazine is pleased to announce that senior contributing editor Jonathan Scull has joined its full-time staff as senior editor. As of April 19, 1999, he will be based at parent company Emap Petersen's office on lower Fifth Avenue in Manhattan's Flatiron district.

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DiAural Demo Converts Skeptic

Barry Willis Apr 04, 1999 First Published: Apr 04, 1999

Advances in audio reproduction typically proceed with tiny steps that, in time, add up to major systemic improvements. In this industry, quantum leaps in basic technology rarely happen. DiAural Doppler decoding may be one of them.

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A Busy Week for the Online Radio Biz

Jon Iverson Apr 04, 1999 First Published: Apr 04, 1999

Last week saw a flurry of announcements in the online audio and video streaming business, capped off by Yahoo!'s">http://www.yahoo.com">Yahoo!'s acquisition of Broadcast.comhttp://www.broadcast.com">Broadcast.com;. Yahoo! says it has signed a definitive agreement with Broadcast.com whereby Yahoo! will issue 0.7722 of a share of Yahoo! common stock for each share of Broadcast.com common stock. In addition, all outstanding options of Broadcast.com will be converted into Yahoo! options. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 1999 and is valued at around $5.7 billion, including $4.8 billion in Broadcast.com common stock and $900 million in stock options.

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Magic Thrives at PWB Electronics

Barry Willis Apr 04, 1999 First Published: Apr 04, 1999

Forget about tuning dots, mystical poker chips, and clocks with programmed electrons. They're all hopelessly out of date.

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Added to the Archives This Week

Stereophile Staff Apr 04, 1999 First Published: Apr 04, 1999

Any audiophile who stumbles onto one of the more cantankerous audio newsgroups ("wreck audio opinion," anyone?) may wonder what has happened to the modern breed of audiophiles. One suspects that religious wars pale when compared to how some audio pundits jostle against each other! But over the years, there has always been a wide variety of opinion. For a perspective written decades ago that still holds true today, we present J. Gordon Holt's classic "Why">http://www.stereophile.com//features/104/">Why Hi-Fi Experts Disagree."

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Threshold Near Recovery, Says National Manager

Barry Willis Mar 28, 1999 First Published: Mar 28, 1999

Holding his thumb and forefinger together to reveal barely a sliver of light, Chris">mailto:calish@ix.netcom.com">Chris English said, "This close. We're this close." He wasn't talking about how far apart we were sitting, but about how close Thresholdhttp://www.threshold.com/">Threshold; is to being back in business after an attempted">http://www.stereophile.com/news/10096/">attempted restructuring last year did not work out.