News

Job cutbacks are one inevitable result of sustained sales declines. In late March, the ailing music industry began to shed excess workers in an effort to reach profitability, with Sony">http://www.sonymusic.com">Sony Music and Bertelsmann">http://www.bmg.com">Bertelsmann Music Group announcing significant reductions in their workforces.

Last year in late October, Universal Music Group finally announcedhttp://www.stereophile.com/news/11476/">announced; its first set of SACD titles and the high-rez format's supporters jumped for joy. Then, at the January 2003 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Universal stood on the podium next to Sony and announced several key SACD releases from the Police, Peter Gabriel, and others.

The nascent satellite radio industry has entered a critical phase, with both XM">http://www.xmradio.com">XM Radio and Sirius">http://www.siriusradio.com">Sirius Satellite Radio posting losses for the fourth quarter. Combined, the two companies have yet to sign up a half-million subscribers.

Corey Greenberg channels his heroes Beavis and Butthead to review the NHT">http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/804/">NHT SuperZero loudspeaker and SW2 subwoofer. As CG explains, the NHT may be the first speaker "that really kicks ass—one that offers true high-end, full-range sound, all for under $1000." Huh-huh, huh-huh.

The US music industry is fighting a war on several fronts—industrial piracy in foreign countries, casual piracy in the States, unhappiness among consumers, and disagreements with artists (see related story).

Record labels have found that CDs with built-in restriction technologies have not worked in all CD players, have been incompatiblehttp://www.stereophile.com/news/11341/">incompatible; with some computers, and have engendered considerable backlash from irate consumers. But why should that stop them?

Kalman Rubinson reviews the MSB">http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/799/">MSB Platinum Link Plus D/A processor, revealing, "I have a warm spot in my heart for MSB's approach to product development." With this latest product, will Rubinson's heart continue to glow?