Music publishing organizations such as ASCAP and BMI have long worked out licensing deals with radio broadcasters, who pay royalties in exchange for playing music over the air. A <A HREF="http://www.loc.gov/copyright/">US Copyright Office</A> panel is now suggesting that online broadcasters also pay royalties, this time directly to the record labels, in a recommendation that has so far left all parties unhappy, particularly broadcasters.
<A HREF="http://www.napster.com">Napster</A> may have finally won a round in court. The Federal District judge in the music industry's ongoing case against the file-sharing service has allowed for the possibility that the plaintiffs may have abused their own copyright privileges in the launch of their online music services, MusicNet and pressplay.
Robert Harley analyzed the $1995 <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/520/">McCormack Power Drive DNA-1 power amplifier</A> back in 1992. His goal? To determine if this product "would be a high-end amplifier for Everyman." Reprint includes Kal Rubinson's Y2K experience with the SMc mods for the DNA-1.
In the record industry's <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/11261/">ongoing battle</A> against its customers, score one for the consumer. Amid recent industry rumors that Universal Music Group has retreated from its position of adding restrictions to all of its new CDs, a <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/11134/">lawsuit</A> over a Charley Pride release has been settled in California, paving the way to alert the public to playback restrictions on discs.
One of the most revered names in the audio industry is seeking legal protection from its creditors. On November 19, <A HREF="http://www.nakamichi.com">Nakamichi Corporation Japan</A> "applied to the court of Japan for a civil rehabilitation," in the words of a company press release on the development, issued the next day. On the 19th, Nakamichi stock closed at ¥22/share (approximately 17¢); the Tokyo Stock Exchange announced that the company would be de-listed effective May 20.
The music industry's in a deep slump, but you won't know it by the glitz, glamour, and hype surrounding the <A HREF="http://www.grammys.com">44th Grammy Awards</A>.
<B>Introduction</B>
A follow-up to last week's question: Which of your used bargains is the crown jewel?
Many audiophiles are incensed that the digital outputs on high-resolution disc players are limited to the 16bit/44.1kHz standard of the "Red Book" CD when playing DVD-Audio discs. To read some postings on audiophile newsgroups, you'd think it's a massive conspiracy to prevent people from adding their own processors to the playback chain. Putting as many boxes as possible in an audio system is a constitutionally guaranteed right, isn't it?
Branford Marsalis is unhappy with the music industry. Unlike many of his colleagues, he intends to do something about it.