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The major record labels and the RIAA have invested much time and effort in sabotaging the MP3 file-trading revolution and its supporters. But the appeal of the compressed music format for a large segment of music fans is undeniable, and many critics of the RIAA have suggested that the petite and portable audio files should be embraced, not resisted.

Is retailing headed up or down? North America's two largest electronics retailers have reported vastly different results for the second quarter.

With two new high-rez audio formats on deck, is a CD-only player still relevant? John Atkinson listens to, and then measures, the Class&#233">http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/924/">Classé CDP-10 CD player to discover why it sometimes takes 20 years to perfect a format.

Johnny Cash, the 71-year-old American icon, died September 12 of respiratory failure caused by complications from diabetes. The singer/songwriter had been released from the hospital the preceding day after a two-week struggle with an unspecified stomach ailment.

We kick off three speaker reviews from the September issue with Brian Damkroger's assessment of the Audio">http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/919/">Audio Physic Virgo III loudspeaker. A perfect meld of minimonitor and full-range bass extension? BD reveals all.

It's just about impossible to imagine a worse public relations campaign than the one being waged by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the nation's courtrooms.

More compact discs that attempt to restrict how you use them are coming to a record store near you. BMG announced last week that its Arista Records division will be the company's first label in the US to release a commercial CD using copy-restriction technology.