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ASCAP Goes After Online Pirates with EZ-Seeker

Barry Willis First Published: Jul 18, 1998

Are order and justice coming to the lawless frontier of the Internet? The American">http://www.ascap.com/">American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers has a new tool for cracking down on unauthorized use of copyrighted material on the Internet. Developed by Online">http://www.omservices.com/">Online Monitoring Services, EZ-Seeker is "web crawler" software that tracks down music and then issues license forms to the users of that music. The announcement followed by less than a week the news (see previous">http://www.stereophile.com/news/10208/">previous report) of the Recording">http://www.riaa.com/">Recording Industry Association of America's $750,000 settlement from makers of unauthorized "DJ compilations" of hit songs.

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Three Tenors Reach Global Audience, Play to Disappointing Crowd in Paris

Stereophile Staff First Published: Jul 18, 1998

The Three Tenors may have reached a global audience of 2 billion people during their performance prior to the final game of the World Cup, but they had only 80,000 fans on hand in Paris's Champs de Mars park, acording to estimates by Paris police. That number was only 10% of the anticipated 800,000, most of whom stayed away because of unseasonably cold and windy weather.

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High End "in a Funk," Claims NY Times

Barry Willis First Published: Jul 12, 1998

The High End has reached a new low, one characterized by "existential angst." That's how Lawrence M. Fisher of the New">http://www.nytimes.com/">New York Times describes the industry's ongoing malaise. In a well-researched and well-written piece that appeared last Thursday, July 9, Fisher cites "demographic and economic issues beyond its control and technological trends that threaten its very relevance." He mentions the economic crisis in Asia---destination for a large proportion of American high-end audio products---as a major contributing factor to the stagnation in which much of the industry is mired.

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McCormack Gets New Lease on Life

Jon Iverson First Published: Jul 12, 1998

Rumors began surfacing last month that McCormack Audio might be on the ropes. Long known for their value-oriented high-end products such as amps and preamps, the company had been struggling for the last couple of years (for reasons not connected with the quality of its products). But a savior has appeared that looks to put the company on a sure footing.

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Noisy E-mail and Recordless Record Companies

Stereophile Staff First Published: Jul 12, 1998

E-mail spam just got a lot noisier thanks to AT&T's a2b">http://www.a2bmusic.com">a2b music and BMG">http://www.bmg.com/">BMG Entertainment. (See previous stories 1http://www.stereophile.com/news/10198/">1;, 2http://www.stereophile.com/news/10133/">2;.) Last week, they announced that BMG will deliver the first "mass communication" of a2b MAIL to the consumer databases of each of its websites, www.bugjuice.comhttp://www.bugjuice.com">www.bugjuice.com; (alternative and rock music), www.peeps.comhttp://www.peeps.com">www.peeps.com; (urban music), and www.twangthis.comhttp://www.twangthis.com">www.twangthis.com; (country music).

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RIAA Cracks Down on Unauthorized Compilers

Barry Willis First Published: Jul 12, 1998

The Recording">http://www.riaa.com/">Recording Industry of America's ongoing pursuit of music pirates bore fruit last week on Tuesday, July 7, when the organization collected $750,000 in settlements from three companies that had produced and marketed CD compilations of hit records. The RIAA also received $20,000 in restitution from Lloyd Schiffres, owner of Top Hat Productions, a disc-jockey supply house. Schiffres, who has been arrested three times, handed over 31 sets of his For DJs Only compilations.

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Sony Electronics Reorganizes: Will Emphasize Digital

Barry Willis First Published: Jul 05, 1998

In a move that acknowledges the increasing convergence of consumer electronics and computer technology, http://www.sony.com"> Sony Electronics has reorganized its US sales and marketing structure, and will emphasize digital performance in its new line of products. Foremost among these developments is Sony's recent announcement that its new line of audio and video products will prominently feature its VAIO personal computers. The notebook computers have editing features for video and motion-picture technology, and are quite popular in Japan, where around 100,000 have been sold.

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