News

As we reportedhttp://stereophile.com/news/030507kreisel/">reported; last March, Ken">http://stereophile.com/interviews/136/">Ken Kreisel declared bankruptcy, closing M&K Sound after 34 years of operation. Last week, the Great American Group, which, according to its website, "provides asset management, disposition, and financial services," announcedhttp://www.greatamerican.com/admin/uploads/events/047adb79-a055-4a5a-95…; that it would offer M&K's $3 million in assets at auction on July 19.

Treasured as much for her bubbling personality and administrative acumen as for her extraordinary voice, coloratura soprano Beverly Sills died of lung cancer on July 2. One of the finest high-flying sopranos of the latter 20th century, she leaves behind a rich legacy of recordings and an opera scene revitalized by her tireless efforts on behalf of American singers.

The New York Times reported on July 2 that Universal Music Group notified Apple that it will not renew its annual contract to sell music through the iTunes Store, choosing instead to sell music to Apple "at will," meaning it could withdraw its wares with little notice. Executives of both companies declined to comment.

Some days the music business reminds us of that old Tom Lehrer quote: "Political satire became obsolete the day they awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Henry Kissinger." It also seems that you can't out-stupid the record industry.

On Thursday, June 28, the US Supreme Court voted 5-4 that manufacturers could impose minimum prices if "they promote competition." The case—Leegin v. PSKS—involved Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc., a California-based manufacturer of women's fashion accessories, which argued that it had the right to set minimum consumer prices on its products to maintain price consistency among the niche retailers it sold to. Those stores, Leegin argued, emphasized customer service, which allowed them to compete with discount retailers that are selling more widely distributed, inexpensive products.

Now that more and more music lovers are turning to the Internet to purchase CDs, DVDs, and downloadable files#151;see WP's story">http://www.stereophile.com/news/062507itunes3/">story on iTunes this week—Naxos isn't taking any chances. The world's largest classical music label, whose US branch, Naxos of America, also claims to be the #1 independent distributor of classical music in the US, has recently set up multiple websites to lure music lovers into the fold.

We received a e-mail recently from long-time reader Sharon Churchill, which linked to an articlehttp://www.newscientist.com/blog/invention/2007/06/sticky-sweet-spot.ht…; in the New Scientist Invention blog concerning a recent Sony patent application for a system that will automatically recalibrate its response to put the sweet spot where the listener is, wherever that might be.

According to market research company NPD Group, in the first quarter of 2007, Apple's iTunes Store has overtaken Amazon.com and Target to become the US's third largest music retailer with 9.8% of all music sales. Apple counts 12 track sales as equivalent to one CD sale, meaning that the company is responsible for nearly 21 million of the quarter's 212 million CD sales.

When Fred Kaplan made his Stereophile debut with his review of the Rogue">http://www.stereophile.com/tubepoweramps/307rogue">Rogue Audio Atlas power amplifier last March, our scheme was also to publish his writings on the music that fuels his soul, jazz. Starting this past weekend, you can find Fred's thoughts on recordings, concerts, musicians, and the music at http://blog.stereophile.com/fredkaplanhttp://blog.stereophile.com/fredkaplan/">http://blog.stereophile.com/fr…;.

The 10th annual The Home Entertainment Show (T.H.E. Show), which will run January 7–10, 2008, concurrent with the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), has expanded its exhibit space to include both the completely renovated Alexis Park Resort Hotel and its neighbor, the St. Tropez Hotel. By using both venues, T.H.E. Show, in effect, throws down the gauntlet to CES, which last year abandoned its traditional high-end audio home at the Alexis Park and moved High-Performance Audio to the Venetian Hotel.