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<I>Stereophile</I>'s Recordings of the Month

Stereophile started publishing its "Recording of the Month" feature in its December 1992 issue, with the late Igor Kipnis's rave review of Keith Jarrett performing Shostakovich's 24 Preludes and Fugues.

Every "Recording of the Month" since December 1992 is available in this website's free archives. However, the magazine has been publishing LP and CD reviews since it was founded, so starting today and continuing the first Monday of every month, I am nominating a review from an early issue of Stereophile as that issue's "Recording of the Month" and posting it in the archives.

Today'…

The Cable Company's Summer Against Hunger Program

As it has for the last 11 years, The Cable Company, along with many of its vendors, is dedicating August to help some of "the poorest people in the most ravaged regions of the world."

Each year CARE helps The Cable Company line up an additional matching grant of at least 5:1 (and as much as 10:1 in the past) from a large donor for its total contributions. When The Cable Company contributes 5% of a sale (all sales) in August, and this is matched by one of the participating vendors, this 10% total donation also receives another five times this amount in matching funds.

Therefore,…

Will a Home Server Be Under Your Christmas Tree?

At CES 2007, Bill Gates announced that Microsoft was developing a Windows® Home Server, saying, "As computers and digital media become more and more central to family life, we need better ways to organize, share, and protect digital content and information at home. Windows Home Server makes it easy for families to save, protect and access digital memories and experiences, so they can focus on using technology to organize their day-to-day lives, explore their interests, and share their memories with the people they care about."

Gates announced that HP would partner with Microsoft to…

UMG Kicks DRM—Mostly

Universal Music Group CEO Doug Morris isn't exactly a fan of portable digital players—in November 2006, he referred to them as "just repositories for stolen music." Yet, on August 9, UMG announced that it would offer at least some of its artists' music as MP3 files without digital rights management (DRM) on RealNetworks, Wal-Mart, Amazon, Rhapsody, PureTracks, Transworld, and artists' own websites. Everywhere, that is, except on Apple's iTunes Store, where UMG files will have Apple's FairPlay DRM installed.

How come? Depends on who you ask. In its announcement, UMG spun the move as a "six…

Industry Update: Is It CEDIA Yet?

XM/Sirius: Did we just hear the other shoe drop on the XM Satellite Radio/Sirius Satellite Radio merger? On July 25, XM founder and CEO Hugh Panero announced he would leave the company in August. The company named COO Nate Davis president and interim CEO.

At the time, many industry observers opined that the move signaled that the long-simmering merger between the satellite radio rivals might be approaching reality—especially since the merger included active roles for Davis and Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin, but not Panero. Other experts speculated that XM's lackluster second quarter…

Harvey and MyerEmco Merger Called Off

The Harvey acquisition of MyerEmco announced in May has been called off. The merger—which was supposed to have closed by June 7, later extended to the end of July, and then pushed back to August 10—called for Harvey to pay $10 million in cash and assume MyerEmco's debt.

The merger announcement was a surprise, since MyerEmco was seen as a successful regional chain and wasn't actively being shopped. Jon Myer, CEO of the chain, told TWICE that any business "is on sale for the right price." Trinity Investment Partners, Harvey's parent company, apparently had trouble coming up with that price…

Sonos Offers Sirius

On August 15, Sonos announced the release of Sonos System Software v2.3, which adds Sirius Internet Radio connectivity to the company's line of digital music systems. Sirius subscribers who own Sonos systems can add that system to their coverage for an additional $2.99/month. Sonos system owners who do not already subscribe to Sirius can purchase Sirius Internet Radio subscriptions for $12.95/month.

At a Sirius Satellite Radio press event on August 15, I had a chance to play with a Sirius-connected Sonos system and was impressed by how well-integrated it was. The Sonos CR100 Controller is…

Tweeter Twists in the Wind

It has been a fraught week for Tweeter Newco LLC, the A/V specialty chain acquired by Shultze Asset Management in July. On August 17, the company trimmed its corporate staff by "half," approximately 80 staffers at the home office in Canton, MA. It was the second corporate re-structuring since January, when 20% of the corporate staff was laid off.

Tweeter chairman George Schultze, who is also principal of Schultze Asset Management, told TWICE that the layoffs were "absolutely necessary" to keep corporate overhead from "strangling the stores." Schultze also said that all departments were…

Return of the Son of Web Radio

Digital Music Association (DiMA) and Sound Exchange (SX) announced on August 23 that they had reached an agreement to "cap the Internet radio '$500 per channel minimum royalty' at $50,000 per service, signaling the start of productive negotiations and bringing resolutions to three important music industry issues," according to DiMA's press release.

Within the next six months, webcasters will be required to provide "full census reporting" (all songs played on all channels, 24 hours per day, 365 days per year), which, SX claims, is essential for fair compensation for artists and labels.…

NBC to Apple: "We're Taking Our Ball and Going Home."

On August 31, Apple announced that the iTunes store would stop selling NBC television episodes for the upcoming season. The press release stated: "The move follows NBC's decision to not renew its agreement with iTunes after Apple declined to pay more than double the wholesale price for each NBC TV episode, which would have resulted in the retail price to consumers increasing to $4.99 per episode from the current $1.99. ABC, CBS, Fox and The CW, along with more than 50 cable networks, are signed up to sell TV shows from their upcoming season on iTunes at $1.99 per episode."

It went on, "…