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Writing 30 years ago, in the November, 1971 issue, J. Gordon Holt tried to anticipate the cries of Sellout">http://www.stereophile.com//asweseeit/483/">Sellout!? as Stereophile began taking its first ads from dealers. Holt wrote, "Before you throw your hands up in horror . . . bear with us for another couple of paragraphs while we explain why this decision on our part need not prompt you to cancel your subscription immediately."

The year 2001 was a bleak one for the music industry. Of the major labels, only Universal">http://www.umusic.com">Universal Music Group managed to turn a profit.

Imagine this: You're a modern kind of audiophile, and your music library is loaded and sorted (without any compression, of course) onto a hard-disk–based audio system which is networked throughout the house. You've also got a hard-disk–based audio system in your car.

With the advent of Dolby Digital, DTS, DVD-Audio, and SACD, multichannel audio and its enthusiasts are not lacking for playback formats. What has been lacking, however, is recognition for outstanding achievements in the fledgeling surround music business. But not anymore.

On December 14, the music industry and small webcasters concluded their long and often-acrimonious negotiations on royalties. The two parties—the Recording Industry Association of America's (RIAA) "SoundExchange," a royalty-collecting body, and the Voice of Webcasters (VOW)—filed an agreement with the US Copyright Office in Washington that details generalities agreed to under the Small Webcaster Settlement Act (SWSA), signed December 4.

Electronics retailers typically depend on the winter holiday shopping season to boost their year-end bottom lines. The hoped-for buying surge apparently hasn't happened in 2002, since Best Buy and Circuit City are both projecting slow sales.

Larry Greenhill wonders, "In crossing over into transistor products, would Conrad-Johnson be able to retain the simplicity, low distortion, and musicality of their tube designs?" LG fires up the Conrad-Johnson">http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/734/">Conrad-Johnson Premier 18LS line preamplifier to satisfy his curiosity.