Classical racked up 19.4 million records sold, which had many media outlets crowing that classical is hot again. Really? Let's put that…
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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.
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…
On a recent tour of Manhattan, Aperion Audio's Win Jeanfreau and Lorraine Janeway took some time to lunch with Stereophile's Stephen Mejias, Robert J. Reina, and me. Reina had just reviewed the $750/pair Aperion Intimus 533-T loudspeakers in the April Stereophile, so we assumed that would be the main topic of conversation. As far as Jeanfreau and Janeway were concerned, however, that was ancient history. They were excited about more recent developments and future plans.
They'd just returned from scouting the Grand Hyatt Hotel, site of the Home Entertainment Show from May 11–13, 2007 and…
In a move some industry analysts characterized as "an uncertain experiment that could backfire," Circuit City Stores, Inc, the nation's second-largest electronics retailer, laid off 3400 employees, about 8% of the company's workforce, on March 28 because they earned too much money. Company spokesperson Bill Cimino told Bloomberg.com that the jobs that were eliminated were paying "well above" market rates, adding that the fired employees can re-apply for their jobs at lower pay after a 10-week delay. Cimino declined to give the wages of either the fired employees or the wages being given to…
Tweeter Home Entertainment Group announced a massive "restructuring" of its operations on March 22. The chain will close 49 stores, including all operations in California, New York, Alabama, and Tennessee, and trim its workforce by 20%. The chain's remaining 104 stores will be remodeled to conform to the chain's current "CE playground" theme.
Industry analysts generally hail this as a positive move for the company, although a few saw it as a portent of doom for "an outdated business model," to quote Eric Haruki, a research director at technology analysis firm IDC. Haruki told The Boston…
Exhibitors at Home Entertainment 2007), the High Performance Sound & Imaging Show, are gearing up for one of the most important international events of the year! HE 2007 will take place May 11–13, 2007 at the Grand Hyatt New York, conveniently located in Grand Central Station in New York City. This historic centrally located venue will provide the perfect setting to showcase the latest in home audio/video entertainment products, and this year's event marks the show's seventh visit to the Big Apple.
Open to the public, the 2-1/2 day show will focus on the luxury lifestyle, as well as…
With buds and 'phones in hand, headphone enthusiasts from around the US and beyond are about to plug in in San Jose, California. Their destination is the Radisson Hotel, where the Second Annual International Head-Fi Meet takes place on April 21 and 22. Organized by Head-Fi, an online discussion board boasting 53,907 members and a whopping 2,810,005 posts annually, the meet promises two very full days of interactive panels, DIY demos, and vendor exhibits.
Head-Fi's first Meet, held last year in Bayside, Queens, hosted 250 members and guests and 15 vendors. This year's reasonably priced…