Search Results for: soft play

Consumer electronics company SONICblue Inc. on Monday unveiled a high-end home entertainment hub that can store an entire music collection and furthers the company’s thrust into the budding market for digital audio and video entertainment. At about $1,500, SONICblue’s Advanced Digital Audio Center can become the centerpiece of a music enthusiast’s wired home. It features a 40-gigabyte hard drive that can record up to 650 hours of music. Through the system, available only via SONICblue’s Web site, music from a CD can be recorded to its hard drive, played back over receivers within the house, downloaded to an MP3 player,… Read more »

The tension is palpable at Universal Studios as USA Networks CEO Barry Diller considers merging his media empire with the studio’s Vivendi Universal parent. “All we know for sure is that Barry Diller is going to be a helluva lot richer a week from now,” said one senior studio executive who was about to attend the Universal Christmas Party. Vivendi Universal, seeking an elusive U.S. distribution outlet for its array of television and film assets, said on Tuesday it was in talks to buy the entertainment assets of USA, which is about 40%-owned by the French company. Whatever Diller does,… Read more »

America Online, the Internet service of AOL Time Warner Inc., said on Tuesday it introduced a test version of the long-promised MusicNet music subscription service and expects a full launch of the service next month. The service, which was established by three of the world’s largest record labels – AOL Time Warner’s Warner Music Group, Bertelsmann AG’s BMG Entertainment, and EMI Group Plc, – along with Internet media delivery service RealNetworks Inc., was also launched last week on RealNetworks through its RealOne service. Similar to RealNetworks’ offering, subscribers to America Online, the world’s largest Internet service provider, will be able… Read more »

Edgar Bronfman Jr will step down as executive vice chairman of media giant Vivendi Universal next year, leaving flamboyant Frenchman Jean-Marie Messier solo at center stage. Vivendi said on Thursday that Bronfman, head of Canada’s Seagram before it merged with France’s Vivendi last year, would step down at the end of the first quarter 2002, though he would remain non-executive vice chairman of the board. “I deeply regret Edgar’s decision but fully understand his wishes,” Messier said in a statement. he said Bronfman was standing down to spend more time on his “personal and family interests.” It was not clear… Read more »

Edgar Bronfman Jr will step down as executive vice chairman of media giant Vivendi Universal next year, leaving flamboyant Frenchman Jean-Marie Messier solo at center stage. Vivendi said on Thursday that Bronfman, head of Canada’s Seagram before it merged with France’s Vivendi last year, would step down at the end of the first quarter 2002, though he would remain non-executive vice chairman of the board. “I deeply regret Edgar’s decision but fully understand his wishes,” Messier said in a statement. he said Bronfman was standing down to spend more time on his “personal and family interests.” It was not clear… Read more »

Network Commerce Inc., a provider of Internet commerce tools and services, said on Wednesday it is suing digital music firm Liquid Audio Inc. for allegedly infringing its patent on a way to conduct online transactions. Network Commerce, which was delisted from the Nasdaq in August, said the patent covered a method for online shopping that uses separate servers and a piece of downloaded software to coordinate purchase information. “Despite our notifying Liquid Audio and offering to license the patent, Liquid Audio would not cease its unauthorized use of the patented system,” Network Commerce Chief Executive Dwayne Walker said in a… Read more »

Once little-noticed for its positive-minded hard-rock and funk blend, the 10-year-old Calabasas-based quintet Incubus broadened its sound a couple years ago and found a winning formula for its memorable riff-heavy, hip-hop-edged songs. Sales of the group’s previous two Epic/Immortal albums have been north of the platinum mark, including the new “Morning View,” and the band closed its first major headlining U.S. tour with a pair of triumphant sold-out homecoming shows in Universal City. With the ascension of Incubus to MTV darling has come the emergence of photogenic vocalist Brandon Boyd as sex symbol and main focus for much of the… Read more »

Dave Matthews Band proved nearest and dearest to the hearts of fans, as their votes gave the Virginia group the bulk of the glory at the My VH1 Music Awards Sunday. Matthews and violinist Boyd Tinsley, accepting on behalf of their bandmates, left Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium with three awards – My Favorite Group, Must Have Album for Everyday and Damn I Wish I Wrote That! (Song of the Year) for “The Space Between.” The group was also honored via a win for their fan site nancies.org in the Coolest Fan Website category. DMB and U2 had a pack-leading six… Read more »

With only days to go before the top music companies start selling music online, they appear unwilling, at least initially, to support most of the digital music players currently sold. Analysts have dim expectations for the new ventures because their music will remain largely chained for now to the computer desktop – and only for as long as subscribers pay to “rent” it. “What’s the use if I’m going to have it on my desktop and I can’t take it with me?” says Jackie DeLeon, 26, a student housing coordinator at the University of Illinois-Chicago who uses her portable MP3… Read more »

Music service provider Listen.com is set to flip the switch on its new music subscription service Monday, connecting consumers to legal, digital versions of tunes ahead of long-awaited efforts from the major labels. Listen.com said its new digital music service, dubbed Rhapsody, will offer music fans features such as unlimited streams of music, access to more than 50 commercial-free Net radio stations, and a playlist-sharing program that lets people create mixes and send them to friends. But for now, Listen.com says it lacks major-label content that would give it a broad mix of songs from well-known musicians. Sources close to… Read more »