Many civil libertarians had predicted that the copyright-obsessed…
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The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is trying to distance itself from an attempt earlier this month to insert language into a broad anti-terrorism bill that would have given the organization's members the right to hack into computers operated by Internet music sites—as well as those owned by private individuals—to find and delete pirated recordings. The wording suggested by the RIAA would have excluded copyright holders from criminal charges for causing damage to computers in the effort to control piracy.
With new high-end audio formats hitting the shelves and MP3 and Napster dominating the online music news, developments in the world of radio have taken a back seat lately. But two announcements this week offer a peek at where the broadcast business might be headed.
The development of a digital-radio system designed to broadcast "CD-quality" audio to motorists across the US will take a major step this month, when the first of three Sirius Radio satellites is launched (see previous story). The Sirius 1, built by Space Systems/Loral, will be placed in an inclined elliptical orbit with high…
Coaxing great performance from an orchestra requires that a conductor combine the talents of interpreter, psychologist, actor, coach, and drill instructor. It also requires a unique auditory ability: the capacity for simultaneously hearing the complete ensemble as well as all its individual performers.
Conductors—the good ones, that is—have long been known to possess a special talent for picking out sour notes from a sea of sweet ones. Is such an ability innate, or does it develop as one grows into the job? According to one recently published study, this capacity for "parallel processing…
On Friday, January 20, five different friends forwarded Chris Morris' The Hollywood Reporter column on the closing of LA's Westwood Boulevard Rhino Records store. Established in 1973, the record store closed its doors on January 19 (although it staged a parking lot sale on January 21 and 22). Rhino owner Richard Foos blamed the store's demise on a number of factors, including pricing competition from national chains, the lack of demand for "a physical product," and "too many other things to do and too many ways to get your music without paying $18 for a CD."
Foos also lamented the demise of…
Paul Wilbur Klipsch, legendary inventor and engineer from America's "golden age of audio," died May 5. The founder of Klipsch Audio Technologies was 98.
A lifelong experimenter and designer, Klipsch was a major force in 20th-Century American audio, winning numerous patents and creating many classic products that continue to inspire engineers today. Few mature audiophiles today could have failed to be influenced by the Klipsch sound. In the 1950s and '60s, Klipsch loudspeakers were essential components in high-fidelity systems. Powered by electronics from companies like Marantz, McIntosh…
The Primedia team has been staying at the San Tropez, home of T.H.E. (The High End) Show, which means some of us have been walking down halls filled with exhibitors frantically getting rooms put together before the throngs arrived. The night I arrived, one room in my building was making music that beckoned to me as I passed by—today, I finally entered and took over the sweet spot.
What took me so long? DeHavilland Electric Amplifier Company brought its Ampex 351-2 open-reel tape deck along to use as a source and, driving it with a pair of Nola's $9000 Viper 2s with a pair of GM70 50W SET…
Magnolia Audio, the upscale west-coast subsidiary of Best Buy, has signed an agreement with ReadyTo Play, a Palo Alto, CA–based digital music company, to offer in-store and point-of-sale promotion of RTP's CD ripping service to Magnolia's customers.
The service, which will reach stores in late June, will convert CDs to the file formats used by digital music players and also load the converted files onto consumers' players or home music servers. Jeff Tedesco, RTP's CEO and founder, said, "Magnolia clearly recognizes that ripping services help sell digital music products and drive overall…
Sirius keeps climbing: If recent gains are any indication, Sirius Satellite Radio may reach its break-even number of subscribers. On May 11, the New York–based satellite radio service reported that it had achieved a subscribership of 400,000. The brand will get increased exposure this summer as Sirius receivers go on sale at Radio Shack and EchoStar "DISH Network" outlets. Sirius products from Audiovox, Clarion, Jenson, and Kenwood are already available at Wal-Mart stores and after-market car audio installers nationwide. Other manufacturers signing on with Sirius include Alpine, Blaupunkt,…
It's been no secret that leading British speaker brand Mission was up for sale—the situation had been spelled out last fall in the Annual Report of parent company NXT plc. NXT is busy pioneering its new flat-panel speaker technology, and shareholder interests were clearly not being well served by "carrying" for any length of time a box-speaker brand whose recent financial reports had been mostly in the red.
Mission has since moved back into profit, and a number of rumors about its likely future ownership circulated toward the end of 1999. On January 19, 2000 the situation was resolved…
Last week, Napster announced that it had reached a preliminary agreement with US songwriters and music publishers to settle a class action lawsuit currently pending in federal court in California. The beleaguered company says the agreement includes terms under which the songwriters and music publishers will license their music to Napster's new membership-based service.
The deal is now subject to the approval of District Court Chief Judge Marilyn Hall Patel, the plaintiffs in the class action, and the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) Board of Directors. Songwriters Jerry Leiber…