Sony, UMG, NARAS's P&E Wing, and Capitol Studios Present DEG Hi-Res Symposium
At a Hi-Res Symposium presented by The Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) on June 1 in Capitol's legendary Studio A in Hollywood, representatives from record labels, Sony, Capitol Studios, and The Recording Academy's Producers and Engineers wing discussed the future of high-resolution digital audio.
Sony, Universal Join Forces for Subscription Music Service
It's mating season for entertainment-industry giants. Sony">http://www.sonymusic.com/">Sony Music Entertainment and Universal">http://www.umusic.com/">Universal Music Group are in talks to develop a jointly operated subscription music service for the Internet, according to a report the two companies issued in the first week of May. The news followed by only a week an announcement of a possible">http://www.stereophile.com/news/10729/">possible merger between record clubs Columbia House and BMG Music Club.
Sony, Universal Reveal Online Music Plans
Will music fans willingly pay for what they've been getting free? With the shuttering of free music site Napster a strong probability, two giants of the music industry are moving forward with plans to roll out a subscriber-based online music distribution plan.
Sony's Awful Week
After posting a round-uphttp://www.stereophile.com/news/110705sony/">round-up; of the news about Sony BMG's F4i's XCP digital rights management system (DRM), which hid itself inside consumers' computers' root-kit code, I spent a frantic week simply trying to keep up with all of the breaking news on the issue on my bloghttp://blog.stereophile.com/wesphillips/">blog;. During the week of November 7, I posted no fewer than 9 URLs outlining breaking news on the Sony story. However, by the end of the week, the company was reeling from the news that hackers had managed to install malware (malicious programs that dismantle a computer's firewall protection) on consumers' computers that masked its presence by using the hidden software placed there by Sony BMG's DRM system.
Sony's Big Slide
An old adage has it that "when Sony sneezes, the whole electronics industry catches cold." If that's so, there could be an epidemic brewing. Sony's profits plunged an astounding 98% in the first quarter of its current fiscal year. Thomson, Samsung, and some large retailers also reported big drops.
Sony's Even Worser Week
As we go into our fourth week of coverage of Sony BMG's digital rights management debacle, it's a good time to review what all the fuss has been about. On October 31, Mark Russinovich postedhttp://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/sony-rootkits-and-digital-righ…; his discovery of a root kit—a cloaked file that had been inserted on to his computer's hard drive. Cloaked root kit files are popular tools used by malevolent hackers, so Russinovich was curious about how the files he detected had entered his computer. It came from Get Right With the Man, a Sony DRM-protected disc Russinovich had purchased and played on his computer. When he attempted to remove the hidden files, Russinovich lost the ability to use his CD drive.
Sony's MP3 Walkman
With its new Walkman music player, Sony has broken with its tradition of promoting its own proprietary formats. The NW-HD3 will let users import and export tracks in the MP3 format, a concession to the format's near-universal popularity and an admission of the failed appeal of Atrac, Sony's own music-playing software. MP3 compatibility should give the player appeal to a wider audience than a Sony-only machine.
Sony's Vancouver Conference
The Super Audio CD is gaining serious momentum.
Soprano Beverly Sills Dead at 78
Treasured as much for her bubbling personality and administrative acumen as for her extraordinary voice, coloratura soprano Beverly Sills died of lung cancer on July 2. One of the finest high-flying sopranos of the latter 20th century, she leaves behind a rich legacy of recordings and an opera scene revitalized by her tireless efforts on behalf of American singers.
Soul & Jazz Greats Mayfield, Washington, & Earland Die
The month of December was particularly hard on the music world, which lost three of its greatest talents within a few days of each other: Curtis Mayfield, Grover Washington, Jr., and Charles Earland. All were in their late 50s.