Music Notes
Starbucks is taking its signature compilation CDs to the next level—the personal one.
News
Better Audio Downloads
Four short years ago, rock band Metallica angered part of its fan base by going">http://www.stereophile.com/news/10746/index.html">going after downloaders who used the online file-trading service Napster. At that time, the band provided Napster with the screen names of 335,000 users reputed to be pirating Metallica's music, and demanded they be removed from the service. The group was also the first">http://www.stereophile.com/news/10725/">first to sue the fledgling company.
US Music Shipments Drop Again
Recorded music as a packaged-goods commodity continues to decline, according to figures released March 4 by the Recording">http://www.riaa.com/news/newsletter/030404.asp">Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Warner Reorgs and Slashes
As promisedhttp://www.stereophile.com/news/011904roundup/index.html">promised; earlier in January, Warner">http://www.wmg.com">Warner Music Group has announced a major restructuring that it hopes will put it in better shape to compete in the "challenging business environment of today's music industry." The move comes after the recent closing of WMG's $2.6 billion acquisition by Edgar Bronfman, Jr. and a group of investors.
Retailing on the Rise?
Electronics retailers may be bouncing back from a long slump, according to a couple of recent reports.
Added to the Archives This Week
Bits is bits? In the December 1990 issue, John Atkinson explored in "Jitter">http://www.stereophile.com/reference/1290jitter">"Jitter, Bits, & Sound Quality" why digital audio turns out to be a complicated process. He writes, "As my violin teacher used to say, 'The right note in the wrong place is the wrong note.'" And so it is with digital data, as JA explains in this groundbreaking report.
Apple in the Sauce
Apple Computer is riding a wave that shows no sign of breaking.
Music Sales Revival?
What ails the music business? Stereophile reader Jim Steel, in an online">http://cgi.stereophile.com/cgi-bin/showvote.cgi?337">online poll last year, opined, "Most of today's pop and metal is lifeless, heartless, and crude. Over-produced, synthetic, and the core product (songs) are mind-numbingly dull and without imagination."
Audio Networking Boom Ahead
A recent">http://cgi.stereophile.com/cgi-bin/showvote.cgi?346">recent online poll indicates that a majority of Stereophile's online readers still don't like the idea of using computers when it comes to enjoying music. If a new report accurately predicts the future, they might as well get used to the rest of the world's booting up their tunes.
Added to the Archives This Week
John Atkinson headed to the Midwest last year to record another audiophile disc. In Deep">http://www.stereophile.com/musicrecordings/304deep">Deep River: the Cantus Spirituals Project, JA describes the process of capturing a chorus of male voices with high-rez digital equipment. Atkinson notes, "Presented with the magnificent acoustic of Sioux Falls' 1500-seat Washington Pavilion of the Arts & Sciences, the question facing me was how to present what are still fairly intimate works while taking advantage of that supportive acoustic."