Petersen's HI-FI Show management announced October 22 that <A HREF="http://www.avacademy.com/">The Academy Advancing High Performance Audio and Video</A> will be sponsoring Trade Days at <A HREF="http://www.hifishow.com">HI-FI '99</A>, The Home Theater and Specialty Audio Show, taking place at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago from May 11 to May 13, 1999. This marks the fourth consecutive year that The Academy has sponsored Trade Days at the HI-FI Shows. Show management and The Academy also announced today that the Music and Film Seminar Series will be expanded in 1999 to a two-track educational program. Each track will consist of the five disciplines showcased at the Seminar Series in 1998: Sales Techniques, Digital Technologies, Room Acoustics, Video Technologies, and Multi-room Design and Installation.

The rumors were flying all week, and this time they proved to be true: <A HREF="http://www.cdnow.com">CDNow Inc.</A> and <A HREF="http://www.n2k.com">N2K Inc.</A> jointly announced the signing of a definitive merger agreement on October 23. Both companies are well-positioned in the online music retail business, but face ever-increasing threats from new online rivals such as Tower Records and Virgin, as well as the ominous presence of Amazon.com who recently jumped into the online music business.

The <A HREF="http://www.riaa.com/">Recording Industry of America</A> is among the many organizations celebrating the recent <A HREF="ftp://ftp.loc.gov/pub/thomas/c105/h2281.ih.txt">ratification</A&gt; by the U.S. Congress of two treaties signed by more than 100 nations at the 1996 World Intellectual Property Conference in Geneva.

Last Friday, October 23, Garden City, NY---based CDKnet announced that Atlantic Recording Corporation had signed a licensing agreement to use the company&rsquo;s CDT technology for enhancing the content of its music CDs. CDKnet&rsquo;s audio and video streaming technology embeds links on music CDs to sites on the World Wide Web, such as Atlantic&rsquo;s own <A HREF="http://www.metrotainment.com/">Metrotainment</A&gt; site. The first musical release under this agreement will be "A Random Act of Senseless Kindness," a single by South SixtyFive, a new group on the Atlantic label.

E<B>ditor's Note:</B>&#160;<I>Lowther horn speakers and their "clubs" have been important to do-it-yourself hi-fi hobbyists in Europe for decades.&#160; A common question from readers in other parts of the world is "What are Lowther speakers, and where can I hear them?" We asked Mr. Doppenberg, of the Lowther Club of Holland, to give us a quick tour of the Lowther story.&#160; For more extensive information, check the links at the end of this piece.</I>

In a <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10283/">story last week</A>, we covered the efforts of the <A HREF="http://www.riaa.com">Recording Industry Association of America</A> (RIAA) to prevent portable MP3 players from entering the market without copy-protection measures in place. On August 16, a federal court entered a temporary restraining order (TRO) to enjoin the distribution and sale of <A HREF="http://www.diamondmm.com/">Diamond Multimedia</A>'s Rio PMP300 portable MP3 recording device.

We've all been hearing about digital television (DTV) for several months now, but a similar revolution is facing the radio industry around the world. As we reported <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10284/">last week</A>, several companies and organizations have been piecing together systems to gradually replace the AM or FM stations you currently listen to (you <I>do</I> listen to the radio, don't you?) with digital equivalents over the next few years.

<B>ORCHESTRE NATIONAL DE BARB&#200;S: <I>Orchestre National de Barb&#232;s</I></B><BR> Larbi Dida, vocals; Youcef Boukella, vocals, bass; Aziz Sahmaqui, vocals, percussion; Fateh Benlala, vocals, mandolin; Fathilla Ghoggal, Olivier Louvel, guitar; Alain Debiossat, soprano sax; Toufik Mimouni, Jean Baptiste Ferr, keyboards; Ahmed Bensidhoune, bendir, darbouka; Kamel Tenfiche, vocals, percussion; Karim Ziad, karkabous; Michel Petry, drums<BR> Tinder 42853192 (CD). 1998. Tajmaat, Djilali Aichioune, prods.; Luis Saldanha, Antoine Illouz, Delphine Presle, engs. AAD? TT: 78:33<BR> Performance <B>*****</B><BR> Sonics <B>****</B>

Paradigm's acquisition of Sonic Frontiers, Inc. is only the first step in salvaging the highly regarded brand, according to Bill VanderMarel, Paradigm's Director of Sales and Marketing. The next step will involve infusions of serious amounts of cash to expand the present network of dealers and to develop new products under the new Sonic Frontiers International banner---an amount VanderMarel expects will run as high as two or three times the purchase price of the temporarily defunct Ontario maker of high-end audio electronics. "Paradigm recognizes the necessity of such a sizable investment over the next 12 months to make a serious effort at revitalizing the name," he said.