Jon Iverson

In a statement that may have far-reaching ramifications for the online digital music-distribution business, last week <A HREF="http://www.sonic.com">Sonic Solutions</A> and <A HREF="http://www.sony.co.jp">Sony</A&gt; announced at the Audio Engineering Society Convention (AES) in Paris that they would collaborate to integrate Sony's ATRAC3 (Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding 3) into iMaster, Sonic's suite of tools for the preparation of compressed audio for Internet distribution.

DVD-Audio has kept a low profile since its misfired "launch" late last year (see <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10620/">previous story</A>), but has popped up again at this week's Audio Engineering Society Convention (<A HREF="http://www.aes.org">AES</A&gt;) in Paris. <A HREF="http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/">Pioneer</A&gt; is demonstrating its latest generation of universal DVD players, <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10633/">recently released in Japan</A>, using a new DVD-Audio disc, some of the contents of which were encoded using Meridian Lossless Packing (MLP) technology to enable high-resolution surround sound.

It's been a rough season for some in the e-commerce crowd, as several consumer-electronics Internet startups find themselves amid changes. Last week, <A HREF="http://www.CyberShop.com">CyberShop.com</A&gt; announced that it will close the e-tailing sites CyberShop.com and electronics.net (created as a joint venture with Tops Appliance City, which is now under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection) and sell these operations' remaining retail assets. At the same time, the company says it will launch an "Internet incubator" through the establishment of <A HREF="http://www.grovestreetventures.com">Grove Street Ventures</A> to attract and develop startup Internet companies.

Visitors to the <A HREF="http://www.listen.com">Listen.com</A&gt; website will find a headline on the home page: "Your Guide to MP3 and More." MP3 recordings, while a big hit with young music fans, have not been a favorite of the music business. The key to Listen.com's financial future as a download site is likely whatever ends up falling under "and more."

Last week, the <A HREF="http://www.ce.org">Consumer Electronics Association</A> reported that sales of audio products during November constituted the largest monthly increase since August 1994. Total revenues for the month reached $901 million, representing a 16% increase over last year's figure. The CEA adds that November's sales brought total year-to-date sales to $7.5 billion&mdash;2% ahead of the same period last year.

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.commandaudio.com">Command Audio</A> announced $56 million in new funding from several media, technology, and venture capital companies for its audio-on-demand service. The company says that the new funding will help fuel the rollout of their entertainment and information service to major US markets in the coming year.

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.twtr.com">Tweeter Home Entertainment Group</A> announced that it has reached an agreement in principle to acquire United Audio Centers, located in the Chicago, Illinois area. United Audio describes itself as a seven-store specialty consumer electronics retailer with annual sales of approximately $48 million, and says it has been in business in the Chicago market for over 40 years. The companies expect to complete the transaction on or about April 1, 2000, and note that the agreement in principle to acquire United Audio is subject to various terms and conditions, as well as to regulatory approval.