Damages against MP3.com are still to be assessed, but could run as high as $150,000 for each instance of "willful infringement" of RIAA members' copyrighted works. The total could reach into the billions,…
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The roller-coaster fortunes of MP3.com took a downturn April 28, when US district judge Jed S. Rakoff found in favor of the Recording Industry Association of America in its copyright-violation suit against Internet music site MP3.com. Investors in the once–high-flying startup immediately began unloading shares of the company's stock, which had dropped 40% by the end of the trading day.
After learning from John Sunier, publisher of Audiophile Audition, that Naxos, the largest classical label in the world, was expected to cease producing SACDs and DVD-As, I checked with their national publicist, Mark A. Berry. He in turn sought confirmation from Naxos' founder and chairman, Klaus Heymann.
"Naxos has a number of recordings already available in DVD-A and SACD formats," wrote Berry after conferring with his visionary chief. "Naxos continues to record all important orchestral and choral/orchestral productions in surround. While Naxos has no plans to release more recordings in…
You think we've got format problems these days? Take a peek back to 1963, when J. Gordon Holt ripped apart the then-new record technology from RCA in "Down with Dynagroove". Next, Wes Phillips writes an ode to his own Mr. Holland in "A Passion for Music".
Lewis Lipnick explains how musicians can get caught between a rock and a hard place at the recording session in "The Musician in the Middle". Find out the mistake that recording engineers often make with french horns!
Ever been tempted to start your own audio store? Barry Willis, who's seen it all, offers his sage advice in "…
Software giant Microsoft Corporation has entered the audio market with a satellite-and-subwoofer speaker system for use with personal computers. The Digital Sound System 80 made its debut at this year's Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3), held May 28-30 in Atlanta's World Congress Center. The system was designed in conjunction with Philips Electronics NV of the Netherlands, one of the world's largest electronics companies.
"Digital Sound System 80 will bring PC users sound more like the audio quality they've come to expect from high-end home audio systems," stated an MS press release.…
Day Four at AES. The crowds were somewhat thinner, but the convention floor was still buzzing, still incredibly busy right up to 4pm, the official break-down time. I spent a couple of hours strolling the floor with Vacuum Tube Valley's Eric Barbour, who works another side of the thermionic street as an application engineer for Svetlana, the Portola Valley, CA-based importer of Russian-made tubes. Svetlana will soon be making the ubiquitous 12AX7 and other popular tubes in its St. Petersburg factory, he told me. Instability in Russia has hindered production recently, but Eric said all…
News last week about SafeAudio CD copy protection indicates that while fighting pirates, the major record labels are also attempting to seal off the ability of users to place their own music from CDs onto computers. If they succeed, the only alternative for consumers who want non-pirated music on their desktops will be to buy content directly from the labels themselves, or companies set up to legally supply digital audio.
But is there a viable business model out there that would allow record companies to make money selling music over the Internet and keep their customers happy? There are…
On June 7, CDnow, the world's top online music retailer, announced that it had acquired superSonicBOOM, an Internet custom-compilation disc business. The acquisition gives CDnow the ability to offer its customers custom discs as well as catalog product, said Jason Olim, CDnow President and CEO.
"superSonicBOOM provides us with a talented management team and custom digital capabilities that will significantly expand the level of personalization in the CDnow shopping experience. We believe this technology empowers our customers to create unique products for gifts, as well as their own…
We all know that audiophile products are dangerous to the pocketbook, but one high-end audio manufacturer is notifying its customers that one of its subwoofers may be dangerous to the listener's health as well.
In cooperation with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Madrigal is voluntarily recalling approximately 1300 Revel Performa B15 subwoofers. According to the CPSC report, a screw inside the subwoofer can cause a high-voltage short, which in turn could cause a severe injury to consumers through an electric shock.
So far, Madrigal says that it has received one…
Westlake Village, California-based KnowledgeLINK has announced a mid-September debut for GetPlugged.com, its e-commerce website. KnowledgeLINK says that the site, presently under construction, will offer a wide variety of mid- to high-end home entertainment products, and "in-depth guidance" for consumers interested in buying them. The company also states that its site's network of affiliated dealers and custom installers will work with customers to ensure that they get the best use of their purchases.
GetPlugged.com is one of many Internet startups attempting to combine information and…
The recent struggle between the RIAA and Napster may seem like a distant battle rumbling off in some foreign realm, far removed from most audiophiles: about once a week we get e-mails asking why a high-end audio website should even cover such stuff.
But to ignore the issues being settled in the lo-rez world would be a mistake. The major labels may be drawing battle lines around crummy, compressed MP3s right now, but in the not-too-distant mega-bandwidth future (okay, maybe middle-to-far-distant future), even audiophile-grade downloads will be affected by what is decided today.
And so…