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Jimmy Smith: 1928–2005

We were saddened to learn that the great jazz organist Jimmy Smith died in his sleep on February 8. He was 76.

On January 7 this year, Smith was designated a National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Master, although, in truth, the NEA lagged severely behind legions of fans when it acknowledged Smith's musical mastery.

A few jazz musicians played the organ before Jimmy Smith—Fats Waller and Count Basie, for example—but the way Smith played, it sounded as though he had invented the instrument. In a way, he had. Smith played the Hammond B3 like no one before him. He played walking (…

No Merger for CDnow, Columbia House

The courtship between two music-retailing giants is over. CDnow and Columbia House have decided to call off a merger that had been in discussion since last summer. The official explanation from executives close to the deal was a sharp decline in Columbia House's profitability over the past several months.

The announcement came in mid-March among news of declining interest among investors in new e-commerce ventures. The marriage of the music retailers had been delayed by prolonged regulatory investigation following the announced merger of Time Warner and America Online. Columbia House is…

Rockers Back Low-Power Radio

Low-power radio is once again an issue at the Federal Communications Commission, and this time the agency is feeling the heat not only from community activists, but from rock artists as well. Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, and the Indigo Girls are just a few of the performers who have rallied behind a proposal to license 100W-to-1000W radio stations to private citizens, according to Frank Ahrens in the October 24 edition of the Washington Post.

Low-power transmitters have become extremely affordable in recent years, and the FCC has had an ongoing battle with unlicensed broadcasters, or "…

All the Sony BMG News That's Fit to Print

There have been even further developments on the Sony BMG root kit debacle since the last time we updated you. The reports that Sony artists were unhappy that the company had been caught compromising consumers' computers were confirmed by Newsweek. That magazine reported that Trey Anastasio's Shine, which was released on November 1, the day after the story broke, sold 15,000 copies in its first week, but plummeted to 7,000 by week two, when the story was all over the press. Since then, all 52 albums with the XCD "protection" have been pulled. Patrick Jordon, director of marketing at Red…

Financial Roundup

Recent financial reports from the consumer electronics industry are all over the map, with some manufacturers reporting declines while others report gains. Sony and Samsung have both posted losses, but Toshiba and JVC made money. Pioneer is holding steady.

Sony's annual report—many electronics manufacturers end their fiscal year on March 31—cites a 6.5% decline in consumer electronics sales, but an increase in operating income. A drop in demand for Sony VAIO computers and Aiwa home entertainment products contributed to a smaller sales total for the year: $41.2 billion, a substantial drop…

A Closing and a Conundrum

Lights out in Gloversville: Universal Music Group's record-pressing plant in Gloversville, NY will shut its doors on May 6, 2005. Founded in 1953 as part of the Brunswick Radio Corporation of America, the plant (and the parent corporation) were acquired in 1962 by Decca, which was itself merged into MCA—and later, UMG, now part of Vivendi Universal.

Interestingly, a UMG spokesperson said that the company will continue to sell LPs, but declined to reveal where they will be manufactured, according to www.themusicangle.com's (and Stereophile's) Michael Fremer.

Anybody at home at…

Digital Audio Forges Ahead

Analog audio electronics are approaching "maturity," a state eventually achieved by most technologies, in which almost all the great discoveries have been made and progress becomes a process of increasingly arcane refinements. Digital audio is in no such danger, as evidenced by three new product announcements made the first week of April.

Because of their efficiency, digital amplifiers have long been favored by engineers for portable applications. They haven't made big inroads in the audiophile market yet, but that situation may be changing. Santa Clara, CA–based Tripath Technology Inc.…

Happy New Year: Sony Settles Root Kit Suit

Sony BMG has agreed to settle a NY-based group action lawsuit triggered by the company's use of two different digital rights management (DRM) technologies. Click here to download a .pdf version of the 42-page Motion and Memorandum of Law in Support of Plaintiff's Application for Preliminary Approval of Class Action Settlement.

The settlement applies to CDs protected by Sony's XCP and MediaMax technologies and offers inducements to consumers to get them to accept the settlement. Sony agrees to supply consumers who purchased any of the DRM-compromised CDs with DRM-free copies of the discs, as…

More Cutbacks at Sony

Each month Sony Corporation announces what seems to be an even more drastic cure for its lingering financial malaise. On Tuesday, October 28, the Japanese industrial giant announced that it would reduce its workforce by approximately 13% over the next three years, cutting some 20,000 workers from its payroll, 7000 of them in Japan.

Sony will also seek to improve administrative efficiency by combining redundant or overlapping jobs, according to an announcement from Tokyo headquarters. The corporation employs about 154,500 people worldwide. In mid-October, Sony posted a 25% drop in net…

Watermarking Companies in Patent Dispute

Can pirate chasers attend to business while accusing each other of piracy? Digimarc and Verance Corporation, two competitors in the digital watermarking race, have been swapping accusations over patent infringements.

On Wednesday, May 2, Tualatin, OR–based Digimarc was granted 28 patent applications for digital audio watermarking technologies that it had filed for between 1993 and 1995. The US Patent Office issued a "Notice of Allowance" approving Digimarc's patent claims, and on the same day informed the company that 74 of the 94 claims made in Digimarc's US Patents #5,636,292 and 5,850,…