The Meridian F80—an ultrastylish, one-box audio system—is a complete departure for Meridian. But when…
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Oooohh! Aaaahh! Coochy-coo! are not the usual spontaneous reactions from hard-boiled audio journalists to the unveiling of a hi-fi component. Nor is the Silverstone Circuit, the self-proclaimed Home of British Motor Racing, the usual venue for such a launch. But the news that UK audio manufacturer Meridian and Ferrari were cuddling up together on a joint project was enough to drag yours truly halfway across the country to deep Northamptonshire on a miserably wet February morning.
Marquis Classics, a Toronto-based CD label specializing in classical, jazz, world, and crossover recordings, recently issued its second batch of "Orion Master Recordings." Drawn from the large classical catalog of the defunct Orion LP label, the CDs include prized rare recordings by Robert Silverman, Steven Staryk, Joel Krosnick, Leonid Kogan, and other fine artists.
Orion was the brainchild of Giveon Cornfield, who in the early 1960s started the Baroque Record Company of Canada. Baroque recorded a host of young Canadian artists who had not previously made recordings, including Silverman…
(This article has been edited to reflect factual changes and comments from our learned colleague, Dr. Kalman Rubinson, Associate Professor at NYU's Department of Physiology and Neuroscience, who is careful to point out that he is commenting, not on the research, which he has not read, but only Heimburg's and Jackson's criticisms of current understanding and terminology—areas with which he has more than a passing acquaintance.)
In a statement that turns conventional knowledge on its ear, Thomas Heimburg and Andrew Jackson of Copenhagen University have declared that nerves do not relay…
Wireworld: Wireworld has "completely redesigned" its Series 52 (pronounced "five squared") audio cables. Chief engineer David Salz says they deliver the "highest fidelity the company has ever offered."
"Our approach has always been to design cables that sound as close to a direct connection as possible in double-blind listening tests" Salz says. "This means that in practice good cable design is all about minimizing the non-linear effects that degrade the audio signal. The theoretical ideal for this is to have a pair of conductors arranged in thin-walled concentric tubes to maintain…
On March 2, the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) published a "Determination of Rates and Terms," which announced an artist and recording company royalty fee structure for Internet radio based upon a "per song" structure. As it so happens, that was the model proposed by SoundExchange, a digital fee collection agency founded by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
According to Radio and Internet Newsletter (RAIN), the CRB has determined that the fees, which will be effective retroactively to the beginning of 2006, will be ramped up each year through 2010, with a cost of 0.08…
Over the last several weeks, one newspaper after another has made note of Nielsen Soundscan's 2006 point-of-purchase data, which showed classical record sales up 22.5%, making it the "fastest growing" category for the year. Hip-hop was down (-20.7%), R&B was down (-18.4%), alternative was down (-9.2%), jazz was down (-8.3%)—soundtracks were up (+19%), but everybody dismissed that, attributing it to the dominance of a single title, High School Musical.
Classical racked up 19.4 million records sold, which had many media outlets crowing that classical is hot again. Really? Let's put that…
Universal Music Group must be taking its name seriously these days. At a time when some proclaim the demise of the classical recording industry, the conglomerate's many subsidiaries —Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, Philips, and Archiv, along with ECM, which has only a marketing and distribution arrangement with UMG —are embracing new projects on multiple continents with determination and optimism.
Universal's latest announcement, that DG has resumed their 32-year recording partnership with the Cleveland Orchestra, is coupled to the summer release of the label's first recording with conductor…
Amelia S. Haygood, the sound-conscious founder and president of record company Delos International, died on March 19 at the age of 87 after a 12-year battle with cancer. Survivors include pianist Carol Rosenberger, her closest friend and Delos vice president, artists and repertoire; Robert Haygood, her stepson; several nephews and nieces; and her extended family at the pioneering classical label she founded in 1973.
Born in Gainsesville, Florida, Haygood fell in love with classical music, especially opera broadcasts and recordings of so-called Golden Age singers, at an early age. After…
Canada has targeted your iPod and hard drive. On March 7, CBC Records, the record label of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, announced a deal with the Independent Online Distribution Alliance (IODA) that will make CBC's entire catalog of 400 active and archival classical, jazz, world, and rock titles available for download. The announcement comes just six weeks after major independent label and distributor Harmonia Mundi declared that it would follow the same route.
CBC Records was founded in the not-so-ancient heyday of vinyl, at a time when few Canadian classical artists and…
We were surprised to read in the March 23 Boston Globe that CBS Corp. had re-launched the CBS Records label. Our memory isn't what it once was, but hadn't we read that same story last December?
Well, yes. According to the December 15, 2006 Billboard, CBS had announced the revival of the old record label, adding that "staffing would be kept at a minimum, with five hirings expected next month." Typical record label jobs like publicity, online marketing, and website design were all to be outsourced.
CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System) bought Columbia Records in 1938; in 1988, it sold…