Shrinking Music Industry
A drop-off in business these days seems to produce one inevitable consequence: a cutback in jobs.
News
Got Music?
In other">http://www.stereophile.com/shownews.cgi?1758">other news this week, the music business is in a tailspin, and searching for ways to save itself. The National Association of Record Merchandisers (NARM) has just published its chairman's message, with several clues about what consumers may see from the industry in the coming months.
CEA: Flat Year Ahead
Manufacturers and retailers don't expect an upswing in electronics sales next year. That's the consensus of members polled by the Consumer">http://www.ce.org">Consumer Electronics Association, published in mid-October.
Big Changes for Sony
Sony">http://www.sony.com/SEL">Sony Electronics will soon institute some big changes in an effort to become more efficient.
SunnComm's Ups and Downs
The last few weeks have been a roller-coaster ride for CD copy-restriction developer SunnComm. The company was riding high in early September when it was announcedhttp://www.stereophile.com/news/11734/">announced; that BMG and Arista had chosen its MediaMax CD-3 Technology to restrict how discs are used.
Added to the Archives This Week
Paul Bolin takes a spin with the Vacuum">http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/938/">Vacuum Tube Logic TL-7.5 Reference line preamplifier, observing, "For some reason, the light has never shone quite as brightly on VTL's front-end electronics, perhaps in part because it's been so long since the company attempted a headline-grabbing, all-out assault on the state of that art."
Dueling Downloads
Only a few short years ago, Napster quickly took root to show the world how Internet-based audio file-trading was where music distribution's future growth might run wild. But the record labels would have none of it and just as swiftly took a legal chainsaw to Napster's trunk, laying it waste and leaving plenty of room for Kazaa and other unsanctioned services to sprout like weeds.
Spooking the RIAA
Music industry executives may have a special dread of this year's Halloween festivities.
Health Care for Recording Artists?
Recording artists may soon have improved health care coverage, should an historic agreement be ratified by members of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRAhttp://www.aftra.org">AFTRA;).
Lieberfarb Joins Sirius
Sirius">http://www.siriusradio.com">Sirius Radio has added an entertainment industry heavyweight to its board of directors.