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EMI Signs Sweetheart Deal with Musicmaker.com

Barry Willis Jun 13, 1999 First Published: Jun 13, 1999 0 comments

The world's third largest music company has thrown its massive weight behind Internet audio. On June 10, EMI Recorded Music, a division of EMI">http://www.emigroup.com/">EMI Group Plc, announced a five-year licensing agreement with Reston, Virginia-based Musicmaker.comhttp://www.musicmaker.com/">Musicmaker.com;, a major custom CD compilation service and digital download site. EMI has not simply made its enormous catalog available to the service---it has also bought into Musicmaker.com with a 50% equity stake.

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Bang & Olufsen Hits the Road

Jon Iverson Jun 13, 1999 First Published: Jun 13, 1999 0 comments

Danish audio-video manufacturer Bang">http://www.bang-olufsen.com/">Bang & Olufsen has long been known for its unusual product designs. Eschewing the normal tendency of consumer electronics manufacturers to design their circuits and transports into stackable black boxes, the company's current home-audio line includes colorful vertical CD stacks with sliding clear-glass doors and brushed-aluminum cylindrical speakers.

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John Wright, 1939-1999

Paul Messenger Jun 13, 1999 First Published: Jun 13, 1999 0 comments

John Wright was one of the most important figures on the British hi-fi scene since the mid-1960s. His natural modesty and reticence made it easy to underestimate a working life that encompassed an unusually wide range of different roles: from inventor to speaker engineer to reviewer to businessman.

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Steve Portocarrero, 1956-1999

Jens P. Pedersen Jun 13, 1999 First Published: Jun 13, 1999 0 comments

Steve Portocarrero passed away Monday, June 7 from Lou Gehrig's Disease, or ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), which he was diagnosed with two years ago.

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Added to the Archives This Week

Stereophile Staff Jun 13, 1999 First Published: Jun 13, 1999 0 comments

Writer Robert Deutsch takes an in-depth look at the Hales">http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/118/">Hales Design Group Revelation Three loudspeaker in an attempt to determine whether the product lives up to its name. He also checks into the manufacturer's claim that "what we made will forever change the world of dynamic loudspeakers . . . an instant classic, a benchmark against which others of its type are measured."

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The End of "Out of Print"?

Stereophile Staff Jun 13, 1999 First Published: Jun 13, 1999 0 comments

Last Thursday, Virgin">http://www.virgin.com/">Virgin Entertainment Group announced an agreement with RedDotNethttp://www.reddotnet.com/">RedDotNet;, a Digital on Demand company, that Virgin says will allow its customers to download music and create custom CDs, DVDs, and MiniDiscs in-store. Virgin describes the deal as "a revolutionary development heralding a new wave of music retailing." As part of the agreement, Virgin will become a shareholder in Digital on Demand, RedDotNet's parent company.

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Bringing Music Bits to Radios Everywhere

Jon Iverson Jun 06, 1999 First Published: Jun 06, 1999 0 comments

In another milestone for digital broadcasting, Lucent">http://www.lucent.com.ldr">Lucent Digital Radio announced last week that it has successfully tested its In-Band On-Channel (IBOC) Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB) system, live and over the air, with National Public Radio (NPR) member station WBJB-FM of Lincroft, New Jersey. According to Lucent, the tests showed that there was no degradation of the host FM analog channel during the transmission of the digital FM signal over the same band.

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AOL Jumps into Net Music with $400 Million Acquisition

Barry Willis Jun 06, 1999 First Published: Jun 06, 1999 0 comments

Better late than never. America">http://www.aol.com/">America Online has finally leaped into the Internet music business with its recent purchase of San Francisco-based Spinner">http://www.spinner.com/">Spinner Networks, and Nullsofthttp://www.nullsoft.com/">Nullsoft; of Sedona, Arizona. The combined deals, which were announced on June 1, cost AOL $400 million in company stock.

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Jazz Photos Gain Momentum as Collectibles

Barry Willis Jun 06, 1999 First Published: Jun 06, 1999 0 comments

The mid-20th century was a time of tremendous political and social upheaval, technological advancement, and artistic innovation. Jazz---an American invention---is arguably the greatest single development in the history of modern music. Most of its pioneers are gone now, but their legacy lives on in their recordings---and in photographs.

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Added to the Archives This Week

Stereophile Staff Jun 06, 1999 First Published: Jun 06, 1999 0 comments

Conrad-Johnson has been on a roll with their Anniversary Reference Triode preamplifier, aka the ART, which garnered the Stereophile Product of the Year award in 1998. (See previous">http://www.stereophile.com/news/10318/">previous article.) According to Lew Johnson, "We realized that Conrad-Johnson is coming up on its 20th anniversary, so we thought we might produce something special to celebrate. This is a version of the preamplifier we use in our listening room at the factory---we never even thought about producing it because it would be god-awful expensive. But it really is our last thought on what a preamp should be, so we figured we'd produce a limited edition, say 250 total, as a way of commemorating our 20 years in the business."