FTC Ruling Against Major Labels Sparks Class-Action Suits
The gold rush is on in the wake of a Federal">http://www.ftc.gov/">Federal Trade Commission decision effectively ending the music industry's policy of minimum advertised pricing (MAP) on compact discs. Attorneys in California and New York wasted no time in filing class-action lawsuits against the music industry's major conglomerates, following the FTC's">http://www.stereophile.com/news/10744/">FTC's announcement May 10 that it had reached a negotiated settlement with them over a longstanding noncompetitive pricing policy.
FTC: Three Tenors—The Fix Was In
Universal">http://www.umusic.com">Universal Music Group and Warner">http://www.wmg.com">Warner Music Group are more than friendly competitors, in the view of the Federal">http://www.ftc.gov">Federal Trade Commission. They are also partners in crime, according to charges filed against the two on July 31 in New York.
FTC: No More Minimum Advertised Pricing on CDs
Retail prices of compact discs are likely to drop in the coming months, thanks to a Federal">http://www.ftc.gov/">Federal Trade Commission action ending an industry-wide price-support policy begun five years ago. On May 10, the FTC announced that it had reached an agreement with the "Big Five" of the music business—Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Music, Seagram Ltd.'s Universal Music, Sony Music Entertainment, BMG Entertainment, and EMI Group PLC—that will effectively end the practice of "minimum advertised pricing" (MAP) instituted as a response to music-retailing price wars in the mid-1990s. Under MAP, retailers were forbidden to advertise CDs below an established minimum, at the risk of losing millions of promotional dollars from the record labels.
Furor Arises Over Counterfeit Oyaide AC Plugs
In the early morning hours of December 11, Joseph Cohen of the Lotus">http://www.lotusgroupusa.com">Lotus Group, the exclusive distributor of Oyaide products in North America, sent out a "Lotus Group News Flash!" The e-mail, dated December 10, declared:
Future Meets Present at MB-5 Conference
It's five years from now. Wide bandwidth has made audio-on-demand as commonplace as ATM machines and cellular phones were in 1999. Music lovers can plug into the Internet from almost anywhere and download any tunes they wish to hear anytime they wish to hear them for only pennies per song. Portable devices the size of wristwatches contain entire libraries of music. Picture frames, computer screens, and ceiling tiles all double as loudspeakers. Intuitive programs suggest personal playlists based on databases of prior requests. People are awash in a sea of music.
GamuT Premiere in Santa Rosa Friday Saturday
Friday, September 30, 48 pm and Saturday, October 1, 48 pm, Lavish HiFi (1044 4th Street, Santa Rosa CA 95404) are presenting special listening events featuring the premiere of GamuT's new flagship speaker, the Zodiac. Featured guests will be GamuT's chief designer, Benno Baun Meldgaard, and US president Michael Vamos.
Gary Warzin RIP
Among the terrible news coming out of the Gulf states these past few days, we heard the sad news that Gary Warzin, one of the co-founders, with Tony Gregory, of high-end distribution company Audiophile Systems, had died on Saturday August 27 at just 56. Audiophile Systems had grown to prominence in the 1970s and '80s marketing Linn components in the US, and after Linn had set up their own distribution, had worked hard to establish the Arcam and dCS brands in the US. We reproduce below the email we received from Audiophile Systems, telling us of the news, but I'd like to offer my own memory of someone whose abilities as a serious expert on marketing—he was a Disney Fellow—were matched by his penchant for practical jokes:
Gateway Music Vault
Gateway">http://www.gateway.com">Gateway Computer appears intent on expanding into the home entertainment arena.
Gear Shop Opens
We were startled to receive an email announcement recently informing us that Scot Markwell, long-time set-up and equipment maven for The Abso!ute Sound's erstwhile editor Harry Pearson, had joined the staff at www.themusic.comhttp://www.themusic.com">www.themusic.com; to manage its Gear Shop division.
Genesis Advanced Technologies and Arnie Nudell Part Ways
On June 6, as we traveled back from HE">http://blog.stereophile.com/he2006/">HE 2006, we received near simultaneous press releases from Genesis Advanced Technologies and Arnie Nudell describing the same event.