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A Really Big Show

You thought it was crowded last year? The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) announced last week that, as of the beginning of December, it looks like the 2003 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) will feature a record-breaking amount of exhibit space, surpassing 1.2 million square feet.

The 2003 CES is scheduled to run January 9–12 in Las Vegas, Nevada. High-end audio exhibits will again be seen at CES at the Alexis Park Hotel and at the outboarder event, T.H.E. Show, which has moved to Las Vegas' Hotel San Remo and will run January 9–13.

The CEA's Gary Shapiro stated…

EgglestonWorks Will Debut Reference Loudspeaker at CES

Thirteen months after announcing its return to manufacturing, Memphis-based speaker maker EgglestonWorks is back in a big way, with plans to debut a "radical" and "visually provocative" reference loudspeaker at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.

Two years in the designing, the $39,000/pair Savoy is the latest addition to the company's Reference line of speakers, originally developed in conjunction with Bob Ludwig's Gateway Mastering Studio in Portland, ME. EgglestonWorks' Ivy Reference, the result of Ludwig's desire for a world-class two-way loudspeaker, was the basis for the Savoy…

The Dawn of Hardware Hacking?

Savvy music fans willing to ignore the built-in copying restrictions on consumer-targeted CD recorders have always had their computer-based CD and DVD recorders and hard drives to play with, especially when it comes to manipulating MP3 files. Maybe not for much longer. A new content-protection approach is attempting to tighten the digital noose around the necks of PC users who have spent the last few years virtually unencumbered when it comes to—as Apple so succinctly puts it—rip, mix, burn.

Software-based techniques for controlling content have been appearing over the last several years…

SDMI Compromises with MP3, Will Release Spec Soon

Folk wisdom has it that it's wiser not to lock the gate after the horses have escaped. The Secure Digital Music Initiative, a consortium of 140 music, software, and hardware companies, has taken that adage to heart. In a significant departure from its original intent to block the distribution of free music on the Internet, the Secure Digital Music Initiative announced in the last week of June that its forthcoming specification for music software and hardware will accommodate the "legacy content" already in existence. There are reportedly as many as 500,000 songs available in the MP3 format…

Cyrus Jumps the Pond

Well known in the European audiophile community, British hi-fi manufacturer Cyrus Electronics is preparing for the introduction of its brand in America. The company says it plans to use the upcoming 2002 Consumer Electronics Show next month to scout out US dealers and introduce several new products.

Cyrus' team of engineers developed Mission's first CD player, the PCM 7000, in 1984, and then created the first Cyrus-branded product the following year, the Cyrus 1 amplifier. Since then, the company has developed an entire line of audio products, including the latest generation of its $7000…

The Canadians Are Coming

French-speaking Canada's premier A/V, home theater, and new technologies publication, Quebec Audio-Video has once again offered its readers an opportunity to attend Home Entertainment 2002 in New York City for free! Franco Moggia, editor of Quebec Audio-Video, says, "After the tragic events of September 11, we had to support our American friends and colleagues by repeating last year's contest."

First prize is an all-expenses-paid trip for two to New York that includes airfare and hotel accommodations for two nights during the Show, plus free admission to the event. The first prize winners…

Music Biz Blues

A year-end report by Nielsen SoundScan, which tracks retail activity, states that compact disc sales through December 22, 2002, were off 9.3% compared to the same period the previous year, with 624.2 million units sold compared to 688.2 sold in 2001. Of all recorded music sold, 94% of it was on CD, the remainder on cassette tape and vinyl records. An insignificant amount of music was sold as legitimate downloads from industry-sponsored music sites. SoundScan did not expect the last week of December to impact the year's total.

2002 was the second straight year for declining music sales in…

US Music Sales Hit New High in 1999

A slump in the music business is officially over. Sales of recorded music in the United States last year totaled $14.6 billion, an all-time high. The figure is a 6.3% increase from 1998's total of $13.7 billion, the previous record, according to a recent report from the Recording Industries Association of America (RIAA).

1999's total is almost double that of 1990, when music sales exceeded $7.5 billion. A surging American economy has lifted the music business out of the doldrums it experienced a few years ago, when it appeared the industry might have a difficult time ever topping the $12…

Industry News Roundup

Wiz stores sold: Cablevision Systems has made good on its promise to exit the consumer electronics retail business. On March 6, the Bethpage, NY–based cable giant announced the sale of its 17 remaining Nobody Beats The Wiz stores to GBO Electronics Acquisition LLC in a stock transaction, effective immediately. GBO will assume The Wiz's assets and debt, according to a Cablevision statement.

Cablevision closed 26 Wiz stores last year, and had announced recently that it would close or sell the remainder. The Wiz had a high profile in the New York metro area throughout the 1980s and early…

BMG Leading Record Labels into Online Sales

In a move that is likely to push record labels into the uncharted territory of direct sales, BMG has announced its intention to add in-house sales to its network of music sites. "BMG will be moving in the fall to its own fulfillment capability because of the demands of consumers," said senior vice president Scott Dinsdale at the Business Online 98 conference in San Francisco last week.

BMG already operates BMG Music Club, one of the largest and most successful mail-order music operations. Although online sales---$50 million in 1997---account for only a fraction of the billions of dollars…