search
"Clean Slate" ends: As of early April, the US music industry no longer offers amnesty to confessed downloaders. Begun in September by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the "Clean Slate" program's intent was to discourage music fans from continuing to gather freebies online by promising exemption from copyright infringement lawsuits if they signed statements that they had removed shared music files from their computers. More than 1100 music fans signed, but Eric Parke of Novato, CA sought an injunction against the program on the grounds that it was a "fraudulent business…
The Home Entertainment 2005 Show is coming to New York City April 28 to May 1, at the New York Hilton hotel. A ticket to the Show not only gives attendees entrée to previews of the latest in home audio, home theater, and convergence products—it also includes free educational seminars on a variety of subjects, moderated by top industry editors.
Home Entertainment 2005 opens April 28, 2005, to members of the trade only.
The Show is open to the public April 29–May 1, 2005.
Educational Seminar Schedule
Friday, April 29
Noon– 1pm. Concepts in Convergence
Moderator:…
For the last several months, the major record labels have been ramping up what some have viewed as a stealth assault on their customers by increasingly deploying technology that restricts the use of audio CDs (see previous). While an increasing number of music fans have been crying foul, one consumer has decided to fight back in court.
Last week, Karen DeLise of California sued Fahrenheit Entertainment and its label, Music City Records, on behalf of the General Public of the State of California, "to enjoin them from selling music compact discs that have been designed, programmed, and…
The best defense is sometimes a good offense. MP3.com has taken that old advice to heart by counter-suing the Recording Industries Association of America for what it calls "unfair business practices." On Monday, February 7, MP3.com filed a complaint against the music-industry organization in San Diego Superior Court, alleging that the RIAA and its president, Hilary Rosen, have conspired to undermine the Internet music company's stock price by promulgating information to stock analysts just prior to suing for copyright infringement.
RIAA officials promptly dismissed the suit as "ridiculous…
Ray Samuels Audio, long well-regarded for its tube-based home audio components, is developing a reputation for its portable designs, too. After reviewing the SR-71, I figured Samuels couldn't make things any smaller.
"Actually," Samuels confided a few weeks ago, "I had an idea about making a simple circuit using the highest quality parts available—and I keep getting comments from people that want to drive high-impedance headphones like the Sennheiser HD600/650, AKG 501, and Beyer DT880. At the same time, I knew that others would be using low-impedance in-ear phones like the Shures,…
Internet audio continues to expand. Last week, at the first WebNoize conference, held in Los Angeles, JamTV/Rolling Stone Network and RealNetworks, Inc. announced the debut of Rolling Stone Radio, a new Internet audio service offering music in several genres. Rock star David Bowie announced that he would serve as a disc jockey for the new venture. Amazon.com has also signed on to participate as a music retailer.
Rolling Stone Radio combines advertising, electronic commerce, and user-interactive features---such as accessing biographical information about favorite artists---by…
Earlier this month, DirecTV announced that it is investing $50 million in XM Satellite Radio in an effort to capitalize on direct satellite-to-receiver broadcasting technology, which is intended to provide listeners in the car and at home with up to 100 channels of music, news, and entertainment available in North America. Additional XM investors include General Motors, Clear Channel Communications, and a private investment group.
XM reports that it has signed more than a dozen programming deals to provide content for the service, and plans more agreements in the future. According to the…
With the music industry in retreat from classical music, dozens of the nation’s symphony orchestras, opera and ballet companies have decided to bring their work directly to the people. On June 12, an association of 66 orchestras and opera groups signed an agreement with the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) that will let them put their music on the Internet, without interference or fee extraction by the recording business.
The agreement was reached after a year of negotiations between the AFM and executives of the top classical organizations in the US, including management…
It's hard enough for established record labels both big and small these days. With the high-resolution audio formats SACD and DVD-Audio still fighting each other and struggling to launch, picking sides is an even bigger gamble for a brand-new record label's first releases.
Despite the odds, SFS Media has decided to do just that. The new label is the official outlet for recordings by the San Francisco Symphony (SFS), whose music director, Michael Tilson Thomas, conducts the group in Gustav Mahler's Symphony No.6 for its debut release, slated for February 5.
The disc was recorded live…
If Lydstrom, Inc. has anything to do with it, the next hot ticket in home audio won't be just another CD player, but a musical database manager capable of organizing and playing as many as 5000 songs, from CDs or from Internet downloads. The Boston, Massachusetts-based company announced June 30 that it has licensed Lucent Technologies' Enhanced Perceptual Audio Coder (ePAC) for inclusion in a product as yet unnamed but projected to be available by Christmas 1999.
The device is "targeted at the growing market for networked home entertainment systems," according to a news release, and will…