That's exactly what Sirius Satellite Radio did in mid-May. The New York–based Sirius signed an agreement with EchoStar's DISH Network to provide 9.7 million DISH subscribers with an array of music programming that most of them have almost certainly not encountered before. The deal instantly elevated the potential number of Sirius listeners from a previous base of 400,000—a figure…
search
How does a struggling satellite radio service increase its market exposure more than 20-fold in one fell swoop? Simple. It enters a sweetheart deal with one of the biggest satellite TV companies in North America.
On July 25, New York State Attorney General Elliot Spitzer announced that Sony BMG Entertainment had agreed to "stop making payments and providing expensive gifts to radio stations and their employees in return for 'airplay' for the company's songs."
Spitzer said, "Our investigation shows that, contrary to listener expectations that songs are selected for airplay based on artistic merit and popularity, air time is often determined by undisclosed payoffs to radio stations and their employees. This agreement is a model for breaking the pervasive influence of bribes in the industry."
In…
Jack English noted in March 1994, "I lobbied ProAc designer Stuart Tyler tirelessly to take a crack at a truly full-range speaker which would preserve the strengths of the Response lineup. My wish came true in mid-1993, with the release of the monstrous ProAc Response 4 loudspeaker."
From June 1990, Sam Tellig grapples with the Spendor S100 loudspeaker, noting, that the S100s "sound somewhat old-fashioned. You know, the way big speakers used to sound—rich, smooth, sweet, not at all strident on top, laid-back rather than forward. Yet the Spendor S100s are up to date in terms of their detail—…
DVD-Audio may have gotten a boost on the production end with the impending release of DVD-Audio Creator LE, an authoring system developed and marketed by Sonic Solutions. Available October 15, the authoring system will sell for $5999, a price that could enable many small recording studios and mastering houses to begin working with the format. "DVD-Audio Creator LE puts powerful tools in the hands of professional mastering studios at a very low cost," said Dietrick Hardwick, DVD-Audio product manager at Sonic Solutions. "This enables facilities to significantly expand their service…
In the race to get satellite radio to market, XM Satellite Radio was the first to hit the air this past September. But competitor Sirius says they were saving the best for last, and has now announced that its official launch date will be as early next year as February 14, with initial broadcasts reaching Denver, Phoenix, and Houston.
Sirius' John Scelfo says, "This is a big day for Sirius. With our infrastructure fully in place and strong relationships with our retail, electronics, and automotive partners, we will offer consumers a great value and a great product." The company says that…
Incubus is following the Dixie Chicks' lead.
The hugely successful rock quartet has filed suit against Sony Music Entertainment seeking freedom from a recording contract that will come up for renewal this summer. Attorneys for the plaintiffs claim that Sony has benefited enormously from sales of Incubus CDs and DVDs while consistently underpaying the performers. Incubus is one the ten most popular rock acts now performing, and has sold a total of approximately 7.5 million copies of its recordings.
The lawsuit, filed February 1 in the Santa Monica branch of the Los Angeles County…
Web-surf's up: Cable manufacturer Stereovox has a new, improved, easy to navigate website. We're just sayin', is all.
MusicGiants' new iHome: On March 29, MusicGiants, the high-resolution music download service, announced a deal to provide MusicGiants Network as part of Audio Design Associates (ADA) iHome Multi-Center package. Consumers who purchase the iHome package will have"instant access" to the paid download service.
ADA is a leader in the custom installation sector, and the iHome Multi-Center is a comprehensive system that includes a Windows Media Center Edition PC, IP control…
One battle in the copyright war is over. MP3.com announced Friday, June 9, that it has reached a settlement with BMG Entertainment and Warner Music Group, two of the music industry’s "Big Five" that had sued the online music company for copyright infringement. Although MP3.com will have to pay some serious damages---possibly as much as $100 million once the other litigants resolve their cases---it gained a licensing agreement with the two major labels that could be worth far more in long-term business. "It's a heck of a price to pay to get the keys to the kingdom," analyst Phil Leigh told…
Most folks have enough room in their homes (some college students excepted) to easily place 100W amplifiers without regard to size or heat. But in the car, high-powered amps have always been relegated to the trunk or under a seat, often requiring creative solutions for anything with real heft.
In an effort to solve the size/heat/performance issue for mobile sound, Santa Clara, CA–based Tripath Technology has been developing its Digital Power Processing (DPP) "Class-T" 1-bit digital audio amplifiers and is ready to fire them up. The company announced last week that Matsushita Communication…
Paul Bolin takes a spin with the Vacuum Tube Logic TL-7.5 Reference line preamplifier, observing, "For some reason, the light has never shone quite as brightly on VTL's front-end electronics, perhaps in part because it's been so long since the company attempted a headline-grabbing, all-out assault on the state of that art."
Next, Art Dudley fires up the Ayre AX-7 integrated amplifier, noting, "For the longest time, the AX-7 and I simply didn't click." But after spending many more musical hours with the amp, would AD eventually fall in love?
Also from the October issue, Jon Iverson…