iTunes, uTunes—We All Swoon For iTunes
On July 11, Kevin Britten of Hays, Kansas downloaded the 100 millionth song purchased from Apple's iTunes">http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/">iTunes music store. Britten spent 99¢ for "Somersault (Dangermouse remix)" by Zero 7 and, in exchange, won a 17" PowerBook, a 40GB iPod, and a gift certificate entitling him to 10,000 iTunes songs (the approximate capacity of a 40Gb iPod). As Apple counted down to 100 million, it also gave "special 20GB iPods" to the consumers who downloaded each 100,000th song between 95 million and 100 million.
iTunes: Music Biz Panacea?
Apple's unexpected initial success with its iTunes subscription music service shocked and pleased many in the music industry—and appears likely to prompt a rash of imitators.
IUMA Acquired and Re-Launched
The prognosis was looking dim for yet another Internet music business, but last week the Internet">http://www.iuma.com/">Internet Underground Music Archive (IUMA), revealed that it has signed an agreement to be acquired by Vitaminic, a European digital platform for the promotion and distribution of music over the Internet. IUMA had recently run out of cash and says that the acquisition will allow it to relaunch all suspended services within the week.
J. Gordon Holt resigns from Stereophile to go freelance
J. Gordon Holt founded Stereophile in the fall of 1962 in order to promote the idea that the optimal way to judge audio components was to do what end users did: listen to them. Since then, Gordon has had an unbroken relationship with Stereophile, through its sale to Larry Archibald in 1982, my coming on board as editor in 1986, the sale of the magazine to Petersen Publishing in 1998, and the subsequent sale of Petersen to Emap in 1999. Through all this time he has been listed on the magazine's masthead as "Founder & Chief Tester." (A fascinating">http://www.stereophile.com//interviews/66/">fascinating interview with Gordon, conducted by his associate and friend Steven Stone, can be found in this website's "Archives.")
J. Gordon Holt 1930–2009
It is with immense sadness that I heard of Gordon's passing, in an announcement from his long-time friend, Bob O'Neill: "A few minutes after 12 noon mtn time, July 20, 2009, J. Gordon Holt passed away in his home in Boulder, Colorado. A memorial service will be held in a week or two. There will be, of course, martinis and the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams." According to his son Charles, Gordon had suffered a long fight with COPD/Emphysema and he died in his home with his family around him.
J. Sikora’s Standard Max Supreme Turntable Meets Aidas, Doshi, Kharma, and Soyaton
Polish company J. Sikora belatedly premiered in Warsaw what they had unveiled at Chicago’s AXPONA six months before: their new Standard Max Supreme turntable. Only one table below the company’s top of the line, Standard Max Supreme reproduced music with the help of J. Sikora's Kevlar tonearm and an Aidas Mammoth Gold cartridge from Lithuania.
JA To Appear at Long Island's Audio Den Saturday
Retailer Audio Den (2845 Middle Country Rd, Lake Grove, NY 11755) is holding an evening with John Atkinson, Editor-in Chief of Stereophile magazine, on Saturday, October 15, starting at 5pm. Not only has John been writing about audio for 40 years, he has engineered, produced, mastered, and played on more than 40 commercially released recordings. He will be discussing how recordings are made and how this affects what you hear on your own system.
Jack English Joins Ultimate Audio
Myles Astor, publisher of Ultimate">http://www.ultimateaudio.com/">Ultimate Audio, recently announced that former Stereophile contributing editor Jack English has joined his publication as a senior editor.
Jade Design Acquires Bob Carver, LLC
The Bob Carver Black Beauty monoblock power amplifier will continue to be made in the US; Jade Design only plans to make it, and other Carver products, more accessible to more people.
When I visited Jade Design in Franklin, TN, last December, Jade’s president, Dan Laufman, hinted that his company was on the verge of making a major acquisition. Today, Jade Design, parent company of Emotiva, Emotiva Pro, and Sherbourn, has completed the acquisition of tube amp manufacturer Bob Carver, LLC.Jadis Returns to the US
American fans of Jadis products take note: Pierre">http://www.pierregabriel.com/">Pierre Gabriel Acoustic recently announced that it has acquired exclusive distribution rights to Jadis">http://www.jadis-electronics.com">Jadis Electronics in the USA. Jadis is based in Villedubert, France and manufactures tube-based audio electronics.