News

After a May 10 http://stereophile.com/news/10744/"> announcement from the Federal Trade Commission that it had negotiated a settlement with the music industry's "Big Five" over a controversial pricing policy, enterprising private attorneys wasted little time initiating class-action lawsuits (1http://www.stereophile.com/news/10750/">1;, 2http://www.stereophile.com/news/10803/">2;) against them. By early August, some reports placed the number of suits nationwide at more than 100.

Here's an audio riddle for you. Question: What's erasable but not recordable? Answer: Downloadable music from FullAudio">http://www.fullaudio.com">FullAudio Corporation.

Do good things come in small packages? Audio technology over this past half century offers pretty good evidence that they do. Fifty years ago, the long-playing record amazed people with a half-hour of music per side, compared to the 78's few minutes. Thirty years ago, the cassette tape replaced bulky open reels, ushering in a new era of recording capability—and portability—for millions of people. Twenty years ago, the CD began to push the LP out of the way because it packed a little more music into a much smaller and more durable package. Personal radios have long been hugely popular, and portable audio players are consistently among the industry's best-selling products.

In an era when music as instant entertainment enjoys increasing dominance over music as art, cellular phones have emerged as the latest">http://www.stereophile.com/news/101005upod/">latest purveyor of music on demand. Issues of sound quality mean little when the goal is to accumulate more and more files at an ever-accelerating pace and have ever easier access to those files.

In a move sure to startle a few record retailers, English recording artists Massive Attack will make their much-anticipated new album, Mezzanine, available in its entirety on the Internet weeks before the May 12 in-store release date. The album will appear in stages over the course of two weeks via a special">http://www.virginrecords.com/massive_attack">special page on Virgin">http://www.virginrecords.com">Virgin Records America's web site.

To date, record label attempts at adding copy-control systems to CDs to restrict their use have been less than totally succesful. We've had Sony discs that get">http://www.stereophile.com/news/11341/">get stuck in computers, discs that don't">http://www.stereophile.com/news/11261/">don't reliably play in all CD players, trademark">http://www.stereophile.com/news/11247/">trademark violations, and CDs that generate lawsuitshttp://www.stereophile.com/news/11134/">lawsuits; and consumer frustration from not being able to create a "fair-use" personal copy of a disc to throw in the car.

Take a break from the heat and dive in to some fine sounds. The Las Vegas Audio Club is delighted to announce that on Saturday July 19, 2–5pm, Philip O'Hanlon from On A Higher Note will present the Luxman DA-06 DAC, PD-171 turntable (both reviewed by Stereophile's Art Dudley) and the L-590aX integrated amplifier driving the Vivid B1 loudspeakers, reviewed by John Atkinson.

Can you hear long passages of music in your mind? If so, your brain may be wired for sound like those of professional musicians.

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Two music-industry giants---Bertelsmann">http://www.bmg.com/">Bertelsmann Music Group and Seagram Ltd.'s Universal">http://www.unistudios.com/">Universal Music---have agreed to pool their resources in a joint Internet venture. GetMusichttp://www.getmusic.com/">GetMusic;, as the website will be known, will sell compact discs in direct competition against traditional retailers, other Internet music services, and mail-order music clubs.

For the entertainment industry, every perceived threat produces an overblown reaction. After a protracted and very public struggle, file-sharing upstart Napster was cowed into submission; MP3.com's "personal music library" was rendered ineffective through a combination of legal pressure and co-option; other Internet music experiments are threatened with lawsuits too costly to contest.