In Your Mailbox Now: our November 2015 Issue
The October Stereophile may have featured a retro tubed integrated amplifier on its cover but the November issue, hitting newsstands and mailboxes now, spotlights the hi-tech, solid-state Musical Nu-Vista 800 integrated amplifier. Don't fret, thermionic aficionados, the Musical Fidelity's preamp section is built around classic nuvistor triodes.
Incubus Sues Sony Music
Incubus is following the Dixie Chicks' lead.
Independent Jazz Gets a Shot in the Arm
It's been a tough year for some of the audiophile record labels, as witnessed by the demise in late November of Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (see previous">http://www.stereophile.com/news/10614/">previous story). The shock of MoFi's sudden departure even prompted Kimber Kable's Ray Kimber to fire off an e-mail to everyone within virtual reading range, urging them to buy a few audiophile CDs and LPs right now, before it's too late.
Independent Music Shops Surviving Despite Online Competition
Internet traffic doubles every 100 days, according to some statistics. This growth has been accompanied by an increase in the amount of online shopping---a phenomenon that has had a significant impact on retailers. Independent bookstores, for example, have been squeezed not only by the expansion of large-scale operations like Barnes">http://www.barnesandnoble.com/">Barnes & Noble, but also by the popularity of Internet discounters like Amazon.comhttp://www.amazon.com/">Amazon.com; and Borders.comhttp://www.borders.com/">Borders.com;. Online sales of recorded music by both record clubs and start-up resellers have put a dent in the bottom lines of many mass-market music stores---although not a huge one yet. The trend will certainly continue.
Independent Record Label Claims First DVD-Audio Release
Warner Music Group may have just announced its first DVD-Audio titles (see related">http://www.stereophile.com/news/10861/">related story), but an upstart independent label is claiming the first DVD-A discs actually available for sale. In an attempt to establish itself as the leader in the new DVD-Audio format, 5.1 Entertainment Group's Silverline">http://www.silverlinerecords.com/">Silverline Records says it has begun shipping the first commercially available 24-bit/96kHz DVD-Audio disc, Swingin' for the Fences, by Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band.
Industry Bits & Bobs
Good Morning America: The war for listeners between XM Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio has seen MLB go to one broadcaster (XM) and Howard Stern to the other. On June 21, Sirius announced an agreement that will put the BBC's popular Radio 1 on a time-shifted broadcast schedule. The time-shift will enable American listeners to hear Radio 1's broadcast day "as it was intended—with Chris Moyles' Breakfast Show in the morning, Scott Mills' show in the afternoon, and kicking off the weekend with Pete Tong's Friday night Essential Selection," according to a press release.
Industry Financial View Uncertain
Financially, the winter months have been all over the map. Some electronics companies have reported upswingshttp://www.stereophile.com/news/030804retailing/">upswings; in revenue, but others are experiencing a decrease.
Industry Group Forms to Promote DVD-RW
The entertainment industry's worst worry—copyright infringement—just got a lot worse. A consortium of 12 major high-technology companies has been organized to promote a rewritable DVD technology developed by the Pioneer Electronics Corporation, according to a May 9 press release from Tokyo.
Industry News Roundup
One might assume that the mutually dependent businesses of electronics manufacturing and retailing would track each other in perfect unison. That's often true, but they can sometimes get wildly out of sync with each other. It's one of the great economic mysteries.
Industry News Roundup
Wiz stores sold: Cablevision Systems has made good on its promise to exit the consumer electronics retail business. On March 6, the Bethpage, NY–based cable giant announced the sale of its 17 remaining Nobody Beats The Wiz stores to GBO Electronics Acquisition LLC in a stock transaction, effective immediately. GBO will assume The Wiz's assets and debt, according to a Cablevision statement.