Music Industry Roundup
The music industry was much in the news in late May, with file-sharing lawsuits launched, Web royalties deferred, the payola system attacked, and an artists-and-record labels coalition questioning the homogenization of radio.
News
Buy Low, Sell High
Used-equipment junkies take note: eBay will bring its popular roving university to New York City for the Home Entertainment 2002 Show (HES 2002), May 30–June 2, 2002. Since its inception, eBay University has instructed thousands of eBay users on the ins and outs of buying and selling on eBay. The special seminar from eBay at HE 2002 will provide specific tips for attendees on buying and selling consumer electronic products.
TIJ Seeks Protection
The music industry's worst nightmare is coming true: feeble attempts to shackle compact discs with "protection" are falling prey to simple felt">http://news.com.com/2100-1023-918273.html">felt pen hacks. And it's too late to build use-restriction and tracking technologies directly into CD players and existing computer CD drives.
Sony & Universal to cease CD production in favor of Hybrid SACD?
Things seemed to be going well for SACD at the 112th AES Convention, held May 10-13 in Munich. The official news, announced at a Sony-Philips press conference, was that one million consumer SACD players have been sold so far. One large Dutch audio retailer even reported to me that they now sold more SACD players than CD players. The prognosis for SACD is total worldwide sales of 6 million players (in whatever form) in 2003 and 13 million in 2004.
Kazaa's Plan to Pay Artists
Internet audio file-sharing service Kazaahttp://www.kazaa.com">Kazaa; is the music industry's pariah—and it wants artists to get paid for their work.
Bertelsmann Saves Napster
Napsterhttp://www.napster.com">Napster; has been saved from what appeared to be certain death. A last-minute deal struck by German media conglomerate Bertelsmann">http://www.bertelsmann.de">Bertelsmann AG will revive the company, which was reportedly near bankruptcy. It's the end of a long-running soap opera and the beginning of a new era for the company that began the audio file-sharing phenomenon.
Added to the Archives This Week
A pair of audiophile-friendly speakers for under $250? That prospect piqued Robert J. Reina into closely examining the PSB">http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/580/">PSB Alpha B loudspeaker. Reina notes that designer Paul Barton "is not one to rest on his laurels. Into this third and latest generation of the Alpha, the Alpha B, he has trickled down some of the design and manufacturing innovations of his more expensive Image series."
CES Dates Announced
Earlier this year, the Consumer">http://ce.org/">Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) tried something a little different and ran the 2002 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas during the week, starting on a Tuesday, instead of in its normal slot over the weekend. The hope was that the show would not compete with the normally crowded Las Vegas weekends, and would offer showgoers more flexibility in finding hotel rooms and taxi cabs.
Rooms of Magic
eBay and Primedia have announced an industry-wide onlinehttp://www.ebay.com/hes/">online; charity event, which will culminate during the Home">http://www.homeentertainment-expo.com/">Home Entertainment 2002 Show (HE 2002), May 31–June 2, 2002. The charity event will bring the latest and greatest in home-theater and audio products to enthusiasts around the world, while benefiting The Elf Foundation, a charity created and supported by the consumer electronics industry.
The Canadians Are Coming
French-speaking Canada's premier A/V, home theater, and new technologies publication, Quebec">http://www.quebecaudio.com">Quebec Audio-Video has once again offered its readers an opportunity to attend Home">http://www.homeentertainment-expo.com/">Home Entertainment 2002 in New York City for free! Franco Moggia, editor of Quebec Audio-Video, says, "After the tragic events of September 11, we had to support our American friends and colleagues by repeating last year's contest."