This spring, downloadable digital music from <A HREF="http://www.emigroup.com/">EMI</A&gt; may begin popping up everywhere, if a new arrangement with <A HREF="http://www.supertracks.com/">Supertracks</A&gt; goes as planned. The two companies have created what they believe is a secure system for downloading music to computers, portable players, and to CD burners at kiosks in shopping malls. The news follows by only a couple of weeks an announcement that <A HREF="http://www.warnermusic.com/">Warner Music</A> and EMI will merge their operations under the larger umbrella of AOL Time Warner.

Satellite radio got a boost toward wider market acceptance on February 16, when <A HREF="http://www.siriusradio.com/">Sirius Satellite Radio</A> and <A HREF="http://www.xmradio.com/">XM Satellite Radio</A> announced an agreement to develop a unified standard for satellite radios. The current batch of satellite receivers can pick up transmissions from one of the providers, but not both. The next generation of receivers will expand the technology's reach by enabling reception of both companies' broadcasts.

Markus Sauer is in a ponderous audio mood: "When several listeners each play music they like on the system, their reaction should be more uniform. But it isn't. What irks me is that, while we seem to be able to agree pretty well on how a system sounds, there seems to be no consistency of emotional reaction to this sound . . . " Sauer works through this troubling aspect of being an audiophile in "<A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//features/203/">God is in the Nuances</A>." "This journal has seen a number of thoughtful ruminations on what it is that attracts us to music or to a given audio component, and how we should describe that attraction." Now it's Sauer's turn.

According to figures just released by the <A HREF="http://www.ce.org">Consumer Electronics Association</A> (CEA), revenues from manufacturer-to-dealer sales of audio products in December 1999 totaled nearly $568 million, a 6.3% increase over the previous December. CEA reports that the strong month's sales pushed year-end revenue totals to their highest mark in four years: total audio shipment revenues in 1999 surpassed the $8 billion mark for the first time since 1995, growing by 2% over 1998.

Merger mania in high-end land: Loudspeaker manufacturer <A HREF="http://www.halesdesigngroup.com/">Hales Design Group</A> and digital audio manufacturer <A HREF="http://www.wadia.com/">Wadia Digital Corporation</A> are joining forces to create what the companies' executives are calling "new digital products for the new millennium." The announcement was made February 14 at Wadia headquarters in River Falls, Wisconsin.

It would seem almost reasonable to imagine that your next stereo receiver or preamp could have an "intel inside" sticker on the front. Last week, software company <A HREF="http://www.be.com">Be</A&gt; made several announcements that it hopes will not only bring such a future to consumers, but also place itself at the center of the Internet-connected home-entertainment equipment market.

Kal Rubinson gets right to the point: "I am biased: On very little evidence, I remain convinced that, in the near future, high-quality music reproduction will be multichannel." The <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/201/">Meridian Digital Theatre surround-sound music system</A> is therefore a product that puts Kal's vision to the test. Kal details the system, which consists of two DSP6000 front L/R speakers, one DSP6000C center-channel speaker, two DSP5000 speakers used for surround, the Reference 800 DVD/CD player, and the Reference 861 System Controller. But does the Meridian system live up to his expectations regarding the potential of surround-sound for music?

It's been a rough season for some in the e-commerce crowd, as several consumer-electronics Internet startups find themselves amid changes. Last week, <A HREF="http://www.CyberShop.com">CyberShop.com</A&gt; announced that it will close the e-tailing sites CyberShop.com and electronics.net (created as a joint venture with Tops Appliance City, which is now under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection) and sell these operations' remaining retail assets. At the same time, the company says it will launch an "Internet incubator" through the establishment of <A HREF="http://www.grovestreetventures.com">Grove Street Ventures</A> to attract and develop startup Internet companies.

High-definition audio is on its way to a DVD player near you. <A HREF="http://www.hdcd.com/">Pacific Microsonics</A> has introduced a new High Definition Compatible Disc chip, the PMD-200, for the next generation of CD and DVD players. The device is a "feature-rich audio IC that provides HDCD processing for both the CD and DVD formats," according to a February 11 company press release.