Did these companies simply miss the beginning of the race, or are they the sure-footed tortoises just now coming within range of jackrabbits like CDNow and Amazon.com? We'll know in the coming months, but Tower finally announced last week that their online retail operation…
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Looks like it might be a while before a profitable formula jells for selling music over the Internet. News this week indicates that one of the largest music retailers, Tower Records, is finally ready to challenge the market, while online distribution pioneer N2K will be scaling back operations until things steady a bit.
The copy cat will soon be out of the bag down under. Australia's musical copyright society has reluctantly agreed to the deployment of CD-copying kiosks throughout the nation in exchange for what an Australian news site calls "a modest royalty payment" of about 6% of the $5AUS copying fee—or 30¢ per disc.
Coin-operated "Little Ripper" copying machines of undetermined legality are already in place in some Australian convenience stores. They could become commonplace in supermarkets, shopping malls, and music stores by September, thanks to an agreement between the Australian Mechanical…
The rumors were flying all week, and this time they proved to be true: CDNow Inc. and N2K Inc. 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 merger will be effected through the formation of a new publicly traded company, initially to be called CDnow/N2K Inc., and is expected to be completed by early…
During copyright protection hearings in Washington the last week of February, South Carolina Senator Ernest "Fritz" Hollings labored mightily to please patrons Michael Eisner, CEO of Walt Disney Company, and Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Pictures Association of America (MPAA). Hollings' questioning of panelists from concerned industries was generally even-handed, according to several reports, except for his treatment of Intel executive vice president Leslie Vadasz, whose opposition to government-mandated copy control provoked an especially vindictive outpouring of vitriol from the 80…
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…
In the fall of 1999, a couple of Canadian high-end audio companies got together to pool resources with the idea that two heads were better than one when it came to certain new products. Simaudio of Boucherville, Quebec and Magnum Dynalab of Brampton, Ontario formed a strategic alliance with the purpose of sharing various technologies to further enhance each company's product lines.
Simaudio's experience in designing and manufacturing power amplifiers, preamplifiers, and integrated amplifiers combined with Magnum Dynalab's expertise in analog FM tuners, provided the foundation to develop…
Sony Electronics will soon institute some big changes in an effort to become more efficient.
Early in October, the company announced that it would move most of its consumer electronics marketing operations from Park Ridge, NJ to offices in San Diego and San Jose, CA. The move should begin in April of 2004, and will come in the wake of last summer's consolidation of Sony's consumer divisions under new president and chief operating officer Hideki "Dick" Komiyama. Park Ridge employees, now numbering about 1600, will be reduced to about 1000. The goal of the reorganization is to "bring Sony'…
Brian Damkroger ponders the Classé Omega monoblock power amplifier. "The Classé Omega is expensive, costing $25,000/pair," notes BD. But he also finds the amp a "drop-dead-gorgeous, massive, industrial-art chunk of aluminum and steel set off with a subtle mix of curves, contours, finishes, and textures." And then there is that Classé sound.
Has Art Dudley gone mad? In his review of the Spendor S3/5se loudspeaker, AD suggests, "Transistors can be made to sound like tubes, digital can be made to sound like analog, and cables can be made to sound like no cables. You'd almost think we live…
More changes coming to The International Audio Group as it continues to sort its product lines and distribution plans. Starting February 1, 2006, IAG has assigned sole US distribution of its Quad branded products to newly formed Taiga LLC.
According to IAG, preparations for the new distribution plan have been in development for six months and Taiga is an independently owned importer and distributor, and will be led by Jeff Sigmund. For the past four years, Sigmund has served as the Chief Operating Officer of IAG's American subsidiary and has also served as IAG America's vice president of…
Cello Music and Film Systems is not merely one of the world's most prestigious names in audio and video. This week, a plush restaurant is opening at the company's new headquarters at 53 East 77th Street (212 517-1200) on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Cello, as the bar/restaurant/garden is appropriately named, will serve dinner by invitation only until mid-June, when it will be opened to the public, according to Florence Fabricant in the May 19 edition of the New York Times.
Cello, the company, is in the process of moving into the townhouse, which cost $5 million to renovate. The multi-…