Done Deal: Sony BMG
Now there are four. The music industry's "Big Five" record labels officially became the "Big Four" on Thursday, August 5, as Sony Music Entertainment and Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) finalized a merger months in the making. The partners are the music divisions of Sony Corporation and German media conglomerate Bertelsmann AG, respectively.
Dorian On The Block
While at the 2005 CES in Las Vegas, we received word that The">http://www.dorian.com">The Dorian Group had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. More details have emerged in the days following the show.
Dorian Sold?
Another chapter has closed in the saga of the Dorian Group, but the story seems far from over. As we reported">http://www.stereophile.com/news/040405dorian/index.html">reported last month, Dorian had filed for bankruptcy and unsuccessfully attempted to auction its assets. The creditors and former owners of Reference Recordings were also nipping at Dorian's heels to get their label back.
Dorian Tries Again
When we last">http://stereophile.com/news/011705dorian/">last left them, a troubled Dorian Group had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In mid-January, the company issued a statement indicating that it would liquidate its assets and begin requesting bids for the purchase of the company in a sealed bidding process authorized by the US Bankruptcy Court, Northern New York District.
Doshi/Brinkmann Event in Virginia Saturday
Saturday June 2, 11am5 pm, Command Performance (115 Park Avenue, Suite 2, Falls Church, VA 22046) welcomes Nick Doshi of Doshi Audio and Anthony Chiarella of Brinkmann Audio for a special analog event.
Download Duels
Stereophile readers may wonder why we regularly report on a low-fi music distribution service like iTunes. The reason is simple: What becomes popular in the mass market today, is what audiophiles will have to squeeze high-end music out of tomorrow.
Download War Far From Over
It has been an interesting week on the download battlefront. On Friday, online file-sharing service BearShare announced that it was shutting down its business. The P2P company, along with its operators Free Peers, Inc., agreed to the terms of a $30 million settlement with the recording industry. As part of the settlement, Free Peers agreed not to start any other unlicensed music services, and the company has agreed to sell BearShare's technology, rights, domain name, and user data to iMesh, Inc.
Downloading Increases
Downloading audio files, whether through a paid music service or not, continues to grow as a means to accumulate music in the US. According to a recent Ipsos-Insight study, as of April 2003, nearly one-third of the general US population aged 12 or older has downloaded a music or MP3 file from the Internet. This translates into roughly 65 million downloaders.
Downloads Evolve on Campus
One of the most fascinating aspects of the digital age is that clever students—or sometimes, clever dropouts—can undo the work of teams of PhD engineers.
Downloads Get Respect
Dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century, the music industry may finally be settling into an uneasy acceptance that its market and business model have changed. Only two months after the successful launch of Apple's iTunes Music Store, Billboardhttp://www.billboard.com">Billboard; magazine announced that it would begin accounting for downloads in its weekly music rankings.