Hot on the heels of a favorable RIAA/Rio decision (see <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10299/">related story</A>), five of the pioneers in the rapidly expanding market for downloadable music---<A HREF="http://www.goodnoise.com">GoodNoise Corp.</A>, <A HREF="http://www.mp3.com">MP3.com</A&gt;, <A HREF="http://www.musicmatch.com">MusicMatch</A&gt;, <A HREF="http://www.xingtech.com">Xing Technology Corp.</A>, and <A HREF="http://www.diamondmm.com">Diamond Multimedia</A> Systems, Inc.---announced the formation of the MP3 Association, an industry trade group focused on the "continued evolution and adoption of the MP3 (MPEG 1 or 2, Layer 3) standard." The Association will focus on three primary goals: promoting MP3 technology as the next-generation digital music format, educating consumers about MP3 and its legal use, and opening new creative avenues for musicians and developers.

More European music lovers will soon be able to enjoy the offerings of Music Choice, a leading provider of audio and data services. Zug, Switzerland-based <A HREF="http://www.fantastic.com/">The Fantastic Corporation</A> announced an agreement October 28 with Music Choice that will expand the musical options for computer-equipped music fans in Great Britain, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and other countries.

When Petersen Publishing purchased Stereophile, Inc.'s assets on June 1 of this year (see <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10183/">previous story</A>,) previous co-owners Larry Archibald and John Atkinson remained with the magazine. Whereas JA's responsibilities as <I>Stereophile</I> editor have remained the same as they had been, Larry Archibald's position changed considerably. He retained his masthead title of publisher (with the December issue it changes to "publisher emeritus"), but in reality, Larry has been more like "magazine spokesman and general factotum" since the purchase.

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>