Record labels have found that CDs with built-in restriction technologies have not worked in all CD players, have been incompatible with some computers, and have engendered considerable backlash from irate consumers. But why should that stop them?Stealth MediaLabs announced last week that SunnComm has agreed to license its "StealthChannel" technology, designed to utilize a "hidden and virtually indestructible 'metaspace'" within compact discs. The companies say this will allow for a persistent watermark to be embedded in SunnComm's MediaMax music CD releases.
In an effort to add a…
"Some say it dates back to 1927, when Gramophone magazine's editor thundered that electrical reproduction was a step backward in sound quality," said the promotional copy for Home Entertainment 2005's opening-day event, "The Great Debate: Subjectivism on Trial." It continued: "But whenever it started, the Great Debate between 'subjectivists,' who hear differences among audio components, and 'objectivists,' who tend to ascribe such differences to the listeners' overheated imaginations, rages just as strongly in the 21st century as it did in the 20th." On April 29 at the Manhattan Hilton,…
We're still waiting to see even one official US release of DVD-Audio software, but reports are trickling in that the recording industry is nonetheless planning for the multichannel high-resolution audio landscape. The latest bit of news comes from mastering facility Future Disc Systems, which announced last week that it is now mastering DVD-Audio projects, and will soon be ready for high-resolution surround sound.Steve Hall, chief mastering engineer at Future Disc, says that "Because the DVD process is complex, a project may be loaded and/or modified by several engineers in facilities…
As expected, the DVD WG-4 Audio Working Group announced at CES that it has released a draft of its DVD-Audio specification to the 10 original DVD consortium companies, and to music-industry associations RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), RIAJ (Recording Industry Association of Japan), and IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry).Details of the standard, two years in preparation, were sparse, but we find it significant that the chairman of WG-4, Bike H. Suzuki, felt it necessary to say that "The WG-4 recognizes that the music industryÆs top priority is…
Michael Brecker, the legendary tenor saxophonist, has been a staple in the recording scene for more than 30 years now—we were first bowled over by his work on drummer Billy Cobham's 1974 album Crosswinds, although we could have just as easily mentioned hundreds of titles where he supported other musicians as a first-tier studio player. Along with his brother, trumpeter Randy Brecker, he co-led the Brecker Brothers band in the 1970s and, since 1987, has released intelligent, challenging records as a headliner, including our favorite, 2001's The Nearness of You: The Ballad Book (Verve 549705 CD…
EMI Group PLC has gotten serious about surviving in a depressed market. In the wake of a disastrous multimillion-dollar payout to pop singer Mariah Carey, the UK music label has announced sweeping cutbacks in its workforce—including many American executives—and in its roster of artists.On Wednesday, March 20, EMI's chief of recorded music, Alain Levy, revealed a plan to cut 1800 jobs, approximately 20% of its workforce. Sources say 27% of the jobs lost will be in North America. The company will also reduce stock dividends by 50%.
EMI will cut around 400 performing artists from its…
In this age of the major record labels maximizing music profits at all costs, even if it involves installing spyware on consumers' computers, www.Magnatune.com stands apart. The website offers entire albums' worth of music of high quality for download in a choice of formats, from highest-quality MP3 (three times the size of iTunes MP3 files) to CD-quality WAV files. It also gives 50% of the money it collects directly to its artists. Magnatune founder John Buckman, 36, who divides his time between London and Berkeley, chose the site's motto: "Internet Music Without the Guilt: Magnatune, the…
Tonal accuracy vs. soundstage? "Achieving an optimum balance between the two philosophical extremes of recording is where much of the art lies. It also begs the question, of course, of why it's impossible to have both: a recording with a virtual-reality sense of imaging that also captures all the sound without any coloration." While recording the Sonata CD for Stereophile, John Atkinson wrestles with every recording engineer's dilemma. Read about the struggle to capture Robert Silverman performing Liszt's monumental B-Minor Piano Sonata and the ultimate solution in "Fate, I Defy You,"…
FireWire's prospects got a little hotter last week, as equipment manufacturers Denon Electronics and Onkyo announced new license agreements with Digital Harmony Technologies. The companies say that they have selected Digital Harmony to add standards-based IEEE-1394 (aka FireWire or iLink) interfaces to their product lines, and both companies expect to release Digital Harmony-powered products in 2000, each certified for compatibility with a number of 1394-based products made by other Digital Harmony partners in the US and Europe.According to Denon and Onkyo, prototypes of the first devices…
President George W. Bush has created a new senior level position, aimed at combating the global counterfeiting and piracy of American intellectual property—a category that encompasses everything from copies of Hollywood films to faked auto parts. The new IP czar will be Chris Israel, currently deputy chief of staff for Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez.Israel served as deputy director of international public policy for AOL Time Warner and as a senior public policy analyst for Time Warner, Inc. from 1997 until joining the Commerce Department in 2001. Mr. Israel also has Congressional…
