News

On Friday, April 29, AP reportedhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060428/ap_en_mu/music_downloads_royalties;…; that Cheap Trick and the Allman Brothers Band were suing Sony Music over the record label's payment for music downloads through Napster and the iTunes Music Service.

April 24: On Saturday, April 22, the audio forum Head-Fihttp://www4.head-fi.org/forums/index.php?">Head-Fi; staged its first national meet at the Adria Ramada Inn and Conference Center in Bayside, NY. The meet, organized by Aaron Kovics (Head-Fi tag: immtbiker), occupied over 3300 square feet of floor space, most of which was divided into manufacturers' display tables and forum members' demonstration areas. Yep, you read that right—unlike ordinary hi-fi shows, the Head-Fi meets are opportunities for the attendees to show off their systems, sample and compare professionally manufactured components, and demonstrate their DIY projects. In fact, one of the biggest surprises I experienced when I attended a regional meet at the same venue last Novemberhttp://www.stereophile.com/news/111405headfi/">November; was that some of the DIY projects not only sounded as good as the commercially available gear, they were built to standards of fit'n'finish that rival "real" products as well.

The Home Entertainment 2006 Show, June 1–4, 2006 in Los Angeles at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel, has announced a special benefit concert to support the Elf Foundation, a non-profit charity that creates Rooms of Magic—private entertainment theaters in children's hospitals that bring the enchantment of uplifting music and film to seriously ill children around the country. A portion of the concert admission will go to the Elf Foundation to support its wonderful work.

On March 24, Universal Classics labels Decca and Deutsche Grammophon announced a pioneering global initiative to release live recordings of recent performances by the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonics for download on iTunes. By the end of the year, four major European orchestras are expected to follow suit, releasing live concerts on the web on the DG Concerts or Decca Concerts virtual labels.

Meet the new boss: Tannoy has announced the promotion of sales and marketing director Andrzej Sosna to managing director of the Scotland-based loudspeaker manufacturer. The company's former managing director, Anders Fauerskov, will now assume the title of CEO of Tannoy's parent, TC Group, which bought the TGI group of companies, including Tannoy, in 2002. Sosna, in his role of product development director, has been called "the driving force behind Tannoy’s recent product successes."