May 1, 2002 12:00 PM

Broadjam To Provide Song Management System For Warner-Chappell
Broadjam (www.broadjam.com) announced that it has performed music-encoding and song-indexing services for the recently unveiled Warner Chappell Music OneStopTrax (www.onestoptrax.com) e-license site, a fully integrated, online music-licensing service from a major music company.
Broadjam will provide its Song Management System, a comprehensive Web-based music database and search engine, for OneStopTrax, enabling film and television music supervisors, festival and student filmmakers, and producers of industrial in-house presentations a one-stop shopping approach to music licensing. Instead of having to go to separate companies to obtain the rights to a single piece of music, the OneStopTrax site enables users to acquire both music publishing and recorded music rights instantly, including licensing and payment, in one transaction.
Available music is from a wide variety of well-known artists, from Cole Porter and George and Ira Gershwin, to the contemporary music of Madonna, Radiohead, Nickelback, Dido, Sheryl Crow and Smash Mouth.
"Broadjam analyzes our songs to a level of detail that is unparalled. They've been great to work with, and we believe that their services will enable us to market more efficiently to our customers," according to Steve Scott, VP of new media at Warner Chappell. "After Broadjam processes our songs, we can search by subject matter, genre, similar artist, lyrics, tempo, beats per minute and language. It's quite a unique service."
Check out the search engine and songs on the newly unveiled Warner/Chappell Website at www.warnerchappell.com.

Shure Bid For Hearing Raises More Than $10,000 For Hearing Conservation
"Better Hearing and Speech Month" in May got off to a great start, thanks to the fundraising and awareness efforts of the Shure Bid for Hearing online charity auction, sponsored by audio manufacturer, Shure Incorporated (Evanston, Ill.). Intended to inform the 41 million Americans with hearing and speech problems that help is available, this month also serves as a time to educate the public about the hazards of noise and the importance of hearing protection.
On April 29, Shure's online charity auction went online to generate funds and increase awareness about hearing conservation. Music fans duked it out on eBay, bidding for 37 artist-signed mics, audio electronics and memorabilia. The auction was hosted on eBay, and all proceeds from the auction benefited Los Angeles-based House Ear Institute (HEI).
"We at HEI could not be happier with the cooperative fundraising effort in support of our Sound Partners program," said Jim Boswell, CEO of HEI. "We are proud to have Shure as one of our significant corporate partners, committed to our efforts to educate audio industry professionals on safe sound management and hearing conservation. We greatly appreciate Shure's leadership and support of our program."
Ending on May 10, and topping the charts, were these top five selling items:

• Number One: Christina Aguilera Shure U2/Beta87 Wireless Microphone Transmitter, $810
  

• Number Two: Ozzy Osbourne Shure U2/Beta 58 Wireless Microphone Transmitter, $615
  

• Number Three: Phil Anselmo (Pantera) Shure Beta 58A Wired Vocal Microphone, $511
  

• Number Four: Nelly Furtado Shure U2/Beta 58 Wireless Microphone Transmitter, $460
  

• Number Five: Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden) Shure U2/Beta 87 Wireless Microphone Transmitter, $456.29

The Shure Bid for Hearing auction grossed over $10,000. For a complete listing of artists who donated items, visit www.shure.com/hearing/. For more information, visit HEI at www.hei.org.

One-Inch Demand Rises
Artists and producers in the Los Angeles area are steadily notching up their demand for stereo mastering on the 1-inch analog format. In response, studios and rental companies are purchasing additional inventories of 1-inch ATR-102s from ATR Service Company (York, Pa.).
"We’ve seen a gradual building of interest, month by month," said Gary Ladinsky, president of the Design FX rental company. "We bought one machine and then ran into a situation where we were getting more calls, and that machine was already out!"
Design FX now has two of the machines working at various studios around Southern California. According to Ladinsky, recent 1-inch analog mixes using his ATRs include projects by Meat Loaf, BeBe Winans, Lee Ritenour, Blue October and System of a Down.
Extasy Recording also owns a pair the 1-inch ATRs, which either shuttle between the company’s two studios (Extasy North in North Hollywood and Extasy South in Los Angeles) or go out to other studios through the company’s 1080 rentals division.
"After the first big rush into Pro Tools, it’s coming full circle and people are getting back to putting things on tape," noted Joe James, engineer and operations manager at Extasy. "I know that when it comes to the final mix, I love to print to analog. And when people start to put these 1-inch machines into their working environment on a regular basis, we expect they will be very much in demand."
Larrabee Sound Studios is banking on a continued upswing in 1-inch demand, having recently taken delivery on the first of three 1-inch machines ordered from ATR Service. "We just uncrated it and it looks fantastic," enthused Larrabee maintenance engineer Aaron Becker. "It has stirred up a lot of interest already. I talked to one producer who really prefers to mix to analog at 15 ips, but he doesn’t like using Dolby SR. Now, with the 3 dB lower noise on the 1-inch, he can do 15 ips without the noise reduction."
Though the 1-inch stereo format has been around for a number of years, machines from ATR Service seem to have cornered the lion’s share of the emerging wide-track market. Design FX’s Gary Ladinsky said that he relies on ATR Service’s Michael Spitz, because, when serving clientele at this level, it makes no sense to cut corners just to save a few dollars.
"Mike has the reputation of being the best rebuilder in the business," said Ladinsky. "I have a lot of confidence in what he does. That was one of the main reasons I took the plunge and bought the first machine."
Joe James at Extasy echoed the same sentiment. He remembers what the studio’s ATR-102 looked like before it went to ATR Service for acomplete overhaul and 1-inch upgrade. "When it came back, the buzz went around the shop, ‘Hey everybody, come look at this!’ It’s amazing, the quality of work he does. And it’s not just the visual appearance, but the performance as well. I can’t say enough about the quality of work he does. It’s amazing."
For more information, visit www.atrservice.com.

EMI Music Taps Henninger Vision for DVD-Audio Releases
EMI Music Catalog Marketing Group (Arlington, Va.) has teamed up with Henninger Vision, a provider of complete, end-to-end multimedia solutions, to release several DVD-Audio titles. Henninger Vision is working with EMI Music Distribution to offer classic recordings in advanced-resolution surround sound, remixed to optimize playback on high-end surround systems, as well as home theater systems. Titles released recently include popular and rare music videos, bios and photo galleries, including Al Green Greatest Hits, Dave Koz: The Dance and Eric Johnson: Ah Via Musicom. Henninger Vision is also working on titles by Queensryche, Crowded House and Richard Thompson, to be released this summer.
"We were very excited to be a part of this EMI project," said Tom McCarthy, Henninger’s director of DVD services. "The DVD-Audio format is a terrific medium to work with. It allows us to include features such as photo galleries and bios that can be viewed at random without interruption during playback of advanced-resolution surround audio. Also included on some of the disc are music videos previously unavailable for purchase. All of these new features makes ‘listening’ to these releases a more active and pleasurable experience."
"We are enthusiastic about this new music format," said Tom Cartwright, VP catalog marketing for EMI Recorded Music. "The superior sound quality and added video enhancements create a premium listening experience that will help boost sales for our artists. The creative team at Henninger Vision was a valuable resource in establishing the video enhancements and putting these releases together."
Each DVD-Audio release is re-mixed at Capitol Studios from the original multitrack master tape in Advanced-Resolution 96kHz/24-bit, PCM surround sound. To get the most out of the new format, audiences need a DVD-Audio player that can play back the advanced-resolution surround and stereo tracks. While listening to the high-resolution audio, the listener can browse the artist bio’s, photo gallery and track credits without playback interruption. Also included on the disc are 5.1-surround mixes in DTS and Dolby Digital formats, so the 31 million owners of DVD-Video players can also enjoy the surround remixes.
To find out more, visit Henninger Vision at www.henninger.com.

L.A. Studios Upgrades with Sony Digital Console
The L.A. Studios Inc. (Hollywood), parent company of the audio post-production facilities L.A. Studios, Margarita Mix Hollywood and Margarita Mix de Santa Monica, announced today that the L.A. Studios location has re-opened it's newly refurbished Studio C suite, which is designed around Sony's DMX-R100 digital console. This is the third step in their two-year plan to renovate each of its six studios.
Studio C will continue to be helmed by mixer Cameron Davis, lending his expertise to voice recordings for animated feature films, animated television series, and the recording, editing and mixing of commercial and entertainment advertising campaigns for radio and television.
L.A. Studios engineer Paul McGrath has been working with the R100 in Studio D since the spring of 2001: "I can juggle numerous projects due to the digital console's ability to save the settings for up to 10 titles," noted McGrath. "Now, with three R100s in our facility, I can seamlessly migrate from one studio to another. I also like the R100's digital router, which virtually eliminates the need for the patchbay."
Other upgrades to Studio C include an Islands International decor with dark, Indonesian wood furniture, supple leather couches and a leaf-patterned carpet. "In addition to the new digital gear and stylized creature comforts, the upgraded studios are designed to be more video-friendly than their predecessors," stated L.A. Studios general manager Jane Curry.
In other L.A. Studios new, Jimmy Hite, chief engineer at Margarita Mix de Santa Monica facility, was named this year's "Best Audio Engineer" recipient at the 23rd annual Telly Awards for his audio post work on "Cat Herders." The humorous spot, mixed for EDS Business Solutions, spoofed cowboys articulating the hardship and the adventure of corralling, not cattle, but cats. Hite's past honors include "Los Angeles Mixer of the Year," presented by The Association of Music Producers in May of 2001.
Hite is a 20-year veteran in the audio post industry. His experience in live radio, television, commercial mixing and motion picture promotions has made him one of the most respected and sought after mixers an the L.A. Studios proprietary sound library, The Sound Effects Network. Hite is constantly working on some of the most high-profile projects in advertising and entertainment, including spots that ran during the 2002 Super Bowl, the Oscars and the 2002 Winter Olympic Games for clients like Chevy, Home Depot and E-Trade, to name a few.
"It is always an honor to be appreciated by one's peers," remarked Hite. "Audio mixing is often an overlooked component in this business. However, with technologies like 5.1 and 7.1 surround on the rise, my craft has become more crucial than ever."
For more, visit www.lastudios.com.

Fairlight Receives Australian Design Award for DREAM Family
Fairlight ESP, the Sydney-based designer and manufacturer of digital audio technologies for the production of the most advanced music, film and television sound, was honored last month at the 2002 Australian Design Awards for the development of the company's DREAM Series of editing and mixing systems. The awards, which were held at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre, marked the culmination of a long and thorough review process by an independent panel of senior industry and design professionals.
Fairlight's DREAM line received the Software-Electronics Design Award from Standards Australia International, whose Australian Design Awards program was established to promote to the industry and the general public the benefits of professional product design in the development of manufactured goods.
Some of the criteria used in the judging were functionality, ergonomics, aesthetics, creativity and originality, safety and environmental considerations, manufacturing (construction and use of materials) and price (value for money).
Commenting on the nomination and award, Karl Seglins, VP of marketing, said, "The DREAM family represents a quantum leap forward in intuitiveness, editing power and ergonomics. The Design Award is an endorsement of this company's commitment to not simply accept the status quo in systems design, but to advance the user experience at every opportunity through extensive investment in R&D and product development."
For more, visit Fairlight online at www.fairlightesp.com.au.

Maltin Returns to DVD Conference
The Fifth Annual DVD Entertainment Conference & Showcase announced that renowned critic and writer Leonard Maltin will return for the third year in a row to moderate the Hollywood Director’s View panel discussion and Fifth Annual DVD Awards. The 5th Annual DVD Entertainment Conference & Showcase will take place August 21-22, 2002, at the Universal City Hilton, Universal City, Calif.
"The name Leonard Maltin is synonymous in the popular culture with film historians," said Charles Van Horn, president of the International Recording Media Association (IRMA), a co-producer of the event. "His ongoing association with our DVD Entertainment conference as moderator of the Director’s Panel and host of the DVD Awards is a fruitful relationship that lends a one-of-a-kind passion for the motion pictures on any format, but especially on DVD."
Maltin is in his 20th season as film historian and correspondent for the television show Entertainment Tonight, and is now co-hosting the weekly movie review show Hot Ticket. His annual paperback, Leonard Maltin’s Movie & Video Guide, is considered a standard film reference around the world. Maltin’s other titles include The Great American Broadcast and Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons. "I've enjoyed hosting the awards ceremonies and filmmaking panels the past two years and look forward to another session this summer," said Maltin. "The DVD boom is big news this year, and I'm delighted to be associated with an event that celebrates the home video format of choice for a growing number of movie buffs."
The Fifth Annual DVD Entertainment Conference & Showcase–an executive-level seminar and showcase of DVD technologies for studios, labels, producers and facilities involved in the creation, production and distribution of DVD-Video, -Audio and -ROM entertainment titles–is the longest-running full-service DVD conference/showcase. It is co-produced by the International Recording Media Association (IRMA) and United Entertainment Media’s Medialine magazine.
For more, visit www.dvdconference.com.

BERTELSMANN SNAPS UP NAPSTER
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -- Embattled Internet music upstart Napster Inc. was handed a new lease on life Friday as German media giant Bertelsmann stepped in with $8 million to buy its assets and keep the online song-swap service in business.
The surprise deal also brought Napster CEO Konrad Hilbers and founder Shawn Fanning back into the fold just days after they quit the company amid fears that mounting legal, financial and technical problems would silence Napster for good.
"While this has been a very unusual week, I'm pleased that I and my colleagues can move forward and give our full attention to Napster's future," Hilbers said in a statement.
Bertelsmann's agreement to provide $8 million for Napster's creditors will allow the company to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and emerge as a wholly owned subsidiary of Europe's second-largest media group, officials said.
It will then resume its much-delayed plan to relaunch as a subscription digital music service that complies with U.S. copyright law.
Analysts said the deal, which gives Bertelsmann control of Napster for far less than the $15 million to $30 million it might have cost to buy the company outright, could nevertheless prove a good deal for the online music company.
"This development could very well breathe new life into this Napster," said Phil Leigh, a financial analyst at Raymond James & Associates.

a hot property gone cold
Napster, once one of the hottest properties on the Internet, has been offline since July 2001, as it fights a music piracy lawsuit by major record labels.
The service this week signaled it was nearing the end of the game as Hilbers, Fanning and several other senior executives quit after a dispute among board members derailed a Bertelsmann bid to buy the company outright.
That quarrel was resolved by a Delaware court Tuesday, setting up a new Napster board chaired by Hilbers.
Bertelsmann, which broke ranks with other music companies by buying a stake in Napster in 2000, said it was now ready to help push the company toward its goal of becoming a secure, membership-charging service.
"Creating new ways of doing business is never easy, but Napster will be at the forefront of finding business models that respect copyright, reward artists and deliver entertainment value to consumers," Joel Klein, chief executive of the U.S. arm of Bertelsmann, said in a statement.
"Peer-to-peer is a transforming technology, and we're proud to have Shawn Fanning continue to work on its development."

a new vision for Napster
Fanning, who founded Napster as a college student in 1999 and will now serve as the company's chief technology officer, said he was pleased to be moving forward with Bertelsmann.
"Bertelsmann understood our vision when they first invested in us," Fanning said. "They still believe in that vision."
Fanning's vision was in part what landed Napster in trouble in the first place.
While wildly popular with millions of users around the globe, the service quickly drew the ire of the recording industry, which in late 1999, filed suit charging it with abetting music piracy by allowing users to download digital music files from other people's computers without paying any royalty fees to copyright holders.
Lengthy litigation resulted in a court injunction, which barred the service from offering copyrighted songs identified by the labels.
While Napster now says it will relaunch as a royalty-paying service, company officials concede that there have been both technical difficulties in setting up the system and contract difficulties with record labels declining to provide licenses for their music.
"The biggest remaining job for Bertelsmann is to get content, to get the other record labels to agree to use Napster," said Leigh of Raymond James.
Sources close to the company said Friday they still had no firm date for the Napster relaunch, but said it would only take place once all the kinks had been worked out.
"For Bertelsmann, this is a longterm play," one source said, adding that Napster's high brand visibility, established "community" of users and peer-to-peer format were all assets.
Jupiter Media Matrix analyst Stacey Herron said that while Napster remained the most famous of the digital music services, it would still face competition from newer companies that have sprung up during the long months of litigation.
"This announcement certainly doesn't secure the future of Napster as a thriving business," Herron said.
"You can't simply turn back the clock and make Napster what it was two years ago."

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Kangaroo Covers Unveils New Amplifier Cover with Pockets
Kangaroo Covers (Nashville) introduced a new, custom-made amplifier cover that features large exterior pockets for storing cords and effects. The covers are made with 1,050-denier ballistic nylon or 32-ounce, heavy-duty, textured vinyl. The covers also include a leather-reinforced handle opening, double-stitched inside seams and leather logo. Velcro inner pocket straps pull up and over the top of the amplifier, holding the pockets open while loading or unloading.
The 1,050-denier ballistic nylon is water repellent with 1/4-inch urethane backing and offers snap buckles. The vinyl model is UV resistant, mildew-treated face and back, cold crack to 10 degrees and offers nickel-plated rust resistant buckles.
List price is $149.95.
Kangaroo Covers, PO Box 120593, Nashville, TN 37212; 800/431-5537; 615/361-5537. Available direct from www.kangarooampcovers.com.

Microboards Technology Is Shipping Faster CopyWriter Tower
Microboards Technology (Chanhassen, Minn.) announced that it is now shipping the fastest duplicator line available on the market. The new models’ significant features include support for 40x record speed and a new brushed-aluminum-style casing.
With the new CopyWriter Tower Series, the CopyWriter brand name is brought back to the tower duplication arena. "CopyWriter was the name of the world’s first stand-alone CD duplicator, which was also brought to market by Microboards," said John Westrum, CTO at Microboards Technology. "And it was only appropriate to bring it back as we reach this new benchmark for speed and throughput." Pricing on the CopyWriter Tower starts at $1,595 (MSRP).
Configurable with anywhere from two to eight recorders, the CopyWriter Tower is designed to be both economical and scaleable. Because all Microboards Tower Duplication equipment comes with a built-in reader, the user is able to make up to eight copies simultaneously from a single master. In addition, the CopyWriter Pro Version comes with an integrated hard drive and user-interface module that gives the user access to advanced features. These include speed selectability, image archival and track extraction to create customized audio CDs.
The CopyWriter Tower Series is one of many CD and DVD Recordable Technology products provided by Microboards. Further information is available by visiting its Website at www.microboards.com.

"COPY-PROOF" CDs CRACKED WITH 99¢ MARKER PEN
LONDON (Reuters) -- Technology buffs have cracked music publishing giant Sony Music's elaborate disc copy-protection technology with a decidedly low-tech method: scribbling around the rim of a disc with a felt-tip marker.
Internet newsgroups have been circulating news of the discovery for the past week, and in typical newsgroup style, users have pilloried Sony for deploying "high-tech" copy protection that can be defeated by paying a visit to a stationery store.
"I wonder what type of copy protection will come next?" one posting on alt.music.prince read. "Maybe they'll ban markers."
Sony did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Major music labels, including Sony and Universal Music, have begun selling the "copy-proof" discs as a means of tackling the rampant spread of music piracy, which they claim is eating into sales.
The new technology aims to prevent consumers from copying, or "burning," music onto recordable CDs or onto their computer hard drives, which can then be shared with other users over file-sharing Internet services such as Kazaa or Morpheus MusicCity.

Sony aggressive anti-piracy push
Monday, Reuters obtained an ordinary copy of Celine Dion's newest release A New Day Has Come, which comes embedded with Sony's "Key2Audio" technology.
After an initial attempt to play the disc on a PC resulted in failure, the edge of the shiny side of the disc was blackened out with a felt-tip marker. The second attempt with the marked-up CD played and copied to the hard drive without a hitch.
Internet postings claim that tape or even a sticky note can also be used to cover the security track, typically located on the outer rim of the disc. And, there are suggestions that copy-protection schemes used by other music labels can also be circumvented in a similar way.
Sony's proprietary technology, deployed on many recent releases, works by adding a track to the copy-protected disc that contains bogus data.
Because computer hard drives are programmed to read data files first, the computer will continuously try to play the bogus track first. It never gets to play the music tracks located elsewhere on the compact disc.
The effect is that the copy-protected disc will play on standard CD players but not on computer CD-ROM drives, some portable devices and even some car stereo systems.
Some Apple Macintosh users have reported that playing the disc in the computer's CD drive causes the computer to crash. The cover of the copy-protected discs contain a warning that the album will not play on Macintoshes or other personal computers.
Apple has since posted a warning on its Website.
Sony Music Europe has taken the most aggressive anti-piracy stance in the business. Since last fall, the label has shipped more than 11 million copy-protected discs in Europe, with the largest proportion going to Germany, a market label executives claim is rife with illegal CD-burning.

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U.S. Copyright Office Rejects Webcasting Rate Plan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The U.S. Copyright Office on Tuesday rejected proposed royalty rates for Internet broadcasters and said it will come up with a final plan within a month, offering hope to online radio stations that said they would be bankrupted by the proposed rates.
Register of Copyrights Marybeth Peters and Librarian of Congress James H. Billington rejected the proposed rate of 0.14 of a cent per listener per song that was proposed by a special arbitration panel in February.
A final decision will be issued by June 20, the two said in a statement.
Unlike conventional radio stations, Internet "Webcasters" must pay performers and recording companies on a per-song basis.
Webcasters had protested that the arbitration panel's proposed rate is too high and could force many of them out of business, pressing their case with a one-day blackout and dogged lobbying.
The Copyright Office did not indicate whether the final rates would be higher or lower than those recommended by the panel, but Webcasters sounded an optimistic note.
"Today's decision by the Librarian offers hope that the final royalty will be more in-line with marketplace economics than was the arbitrators' proposal," said Jonathan Potter, executive director of the Digital Media Association, a trade group that includes Webcasters.
Software maker RealNetworks Inc., whose media players are often used to listen to Webcasts, said the decision is a positive sign that regulators had heard the Webcasters' message.
Recording companies, which would split royalty revenues with the artists, had initially sought a higher rate than what the arbitration panel proposed, but later said they could live with the panel's decision.
However, Cary Sherman, president of Recording Industry Association of America, emphasized that the decision did not necessarily mean a victory for Webcasters.
"We do not know why or what decision the Librarian will ultimately make based on the evidence presented," Sherman said.
Unlike Kazaa and other song-swapping services that allow users to download songs for free, Webcasters have not been accused of copyright violations by artists and record companies.
Webcasters say they are willing to pay a fee for the right to use the songs. Record companies, for their part, say they welcome the advent of Webcasters, which have grabbed the ears of 9% of Americans aged 12 and older, according to market research firm Arbitron.
But despite years of negotiations, the two sides had been unable to agree on a royalty rate, prompting the Copyright Office to step in.
Webcasters will be liable for back royalties once a final agreement is reached.
The head of an organization that would distribute some royalties once an agreement is reached said it is high time that Webcasters start paying for the songs they use.
"Over the past three years, Webcasters have paid for bandwidth, rent, hardware, software and other business expenses," said SoundExchange executive director John L. Simson. "It is time that they finally start to pay the artists and record companies whose creative output is the most important component of their business."

Meyer Sound To Feature Booth Presentations at InfoComm 2002
At this year’s InfoComm International (June 8-14 at the Sands Expo & Convention Center in Las Vegas), Meyer Sound’s booth, #19139, will feature a host of new products, regularly scheduled product presentations, and a special panel discussion entitled "Getting the Best Out of the ‘A’ in A/V." All presentati

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