Barry Willis

The first half of the fiscal year has been generally kind to many Japanese electronics manufacturers, most of whom released financial reports at the end of October.

Tom Dowd, a recording engineer and producer who created some of the greatest pop, jazz, and rock recordings of the 1950s, '60s, and '70s, and who ushered in the era of multi-track tape recording and stereo playback, died Sunday, October 27 of emphysema at an assisted living center in Aventura, Florida, near Miami. He was 77.

Small webcasters have won another reprieve from royalty payments.

Making good on a <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/11382/">promise</A&gt; made several months back, <A HREF="http://www.avantgarde-acoustic.com/">Avantgarde Acoustic</A> is moving into the retail realm. The company's German-made horn loudspeakers are the featured products at <A HREF="http://www.avantgardemusic.biz">Avantgarde Music & Cinema</A>, a new showroom at 27 West 24th Street, Suite 502 in Manhattan. The store is privately owned and operated by <A HREF="mailto:TheHornStore@aol.com">Bob Visintainer</A>, who emphasized that his business is "definitely Avantgarde focused" but also carries other brands of electronics and accessories.

In August, the future looked cloudy for <A HREF="http://www.sirius.com">Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc.</A> Despite the eventual commercial promise of satellite radio, the startup suffered from massive debt accrued during its development and from a slow initial subscription rate. Company officials had discussed a <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/11421/">possible bankruptcy filing</A> if additional financing couldn't be found.

A long-running dispute between the music industry and small webcasters may have come to an amicable conclusion. Over the weekend of October 5-6, representatives from both sides agreed on a system of royalties to be paid to record labels and artists based on a percentage of webcaster revenue or expenses, rather than on a per song basis. Last summer, Librarian of Congress James Billington decreed that all webcasters should pay a royalty rate of 0.07&#162; per song per 1000 listeners. Many small webcasters, including many college radio stations, chose to go offline rather than face fees they couldn't afford.

Sales of recorded music declined by 9.2% on a monetary basis and 11% on a unit basis worldwide during the first half of 2002, according to recently released figures from the <A HREF="http://www.ifpi.org">International Federation of the Phonographic Industry</A> (IFPI). The drop is a continuation of a long slump that began in the mid-1990s, blamed by many music industry executives on the widespread use of CD burners and the popularity of downloading tunes on the Internet. Others acknowledge that increasing competition for consumers' time and money&mdash;especially films on DVD&mdash;is eating into music industry profits.