Recorded music as a packaged-goods commodity continues to decline, according to figures released March 4 by the <A HREF="http://www.riaa.com/news/newsletter/030404.asp">Recording Industry Association of America</A> (RIAA).
In late February, many California music fans discovered in their mail a one-page form letter from the state's attorney general, Bill Lockyer, announcing that he was "pleased to enclose payment for your claim in the settlement of the Compact Disc Minimum Advertised Price Antitrust Litigation." Attached to the bottom of the form letter was a tear-off check made out to the aggrieved music fan from "CD MAP Antitrust Litigation" in Faribault, MN.
In its nearly two decades, Benicia, CA–based loudspeaker manufacturer <A HREF="http://www.nhthifi.com/">NHT</A> has earned a well-deserved reputation for affordable high-performance products, among them legendary mini-monitors, such as the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/loudspeakerreviews/804">Super Zero</A> and Super One, as well as its full-range Model 3.3. Founded by Ken Kantor and Chris Byrne in 1986, the company was sold to Jensen International in the early 1990s, spun off to packaged goods specialist Recoton, and acquired by Rockford Corporation in the final days of 2002—an event that saved NHT from an uncertain fate.
What's in a name?
Contrary to popular assumption, music downloads and CD sales may reinforce each other. That's one reasonable interpretation of mid-February music industry statistics from the United Kingdom.
UPDATE: On Monday, February 9, Tower Records, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection at the US Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware. Industry observers had predicted the move in the weeks leading up to the filing. MTS, Inc., as the company is officially known, listed "more than $100 million of assets and more than $100 million of debts in its filing," according to a report from Reuters news service. "MTS expects to emerge from Chapter 11 within 45 to 60 days. It plans to swap $110 million of senior debt for $30 million of new senior notes and an 85% equity stake. Existing equity holders would retain a 15% stake," the report continued.
During the first week of February, major record labels quietly launched small-scale test marketing of a new hybrid disc that combines a standard CD on one side with a DVD on the other.
<I>To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction.</I>—Sir Isaac Newton, 1687
The rumored economic recovery may not be simply spin and hype, if recent reports from the consumer electronics industry are any indication.
The name Joe D'Appolito is synonymous with high-performance loudspeakers. Many manufacturers use D'Appolito techniques, but Snell Acoustics has the advantage of employing the famed designer himself as chief engineer. The company will soon begin delivering its Series 7 loudspeakers, which debuted at the 2004 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.