Online Music And SACD At MIDEN

Online music delivery and SACD was very much a focus at the recent MIDEM conference in Cannes, France.A number of online music delivery companies promoting MP3 downloaded preview music were represented, such as Liquid Audio and AT&Tís a2b music. Liquid Audio was handing out free CDs containing the Liquid Music Player that enables computer owners to download MP3 encoded tracks off the Internet. Whether it is committed over the Net or via physical media, piracy is still one of the biggest issues on the music industryís agenda. Anti-piracy was a major theme of the conference which drew attention to the growing number of illegal MP3 sites and to RIAAís Secure Digital Music Initiative. That initiative is aiming to standardize the method used for watermarking music legitimately distributed over the Internet and on DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD. The RIAA is increasingly becoming perceived by those within and outside the music industry as the music police. With youth all over the world increasingly trying to utilize the Internet to satisfy the demand for music for free, for all kinds of personal and group experiences, no one knows just how problematical the MP3 problem will be in the long term. There is the possible scenario that individuals will simply use the Web like radio and end up buying legitimate singles and albums. No one would dispute that piracy of legitimate intellectual property is a major problem and one that needs to be solved. That issue has been and continues to be a barrier to the full realization of the performance capability of the DVD-Video format, as well as super high quality audio delivery.Philips and Sony were very much in evidence at MIDEN where they were showing prototype professional recorders, players and a video featuring various eminent recording people extolling the virtues of Super Audio CD, the hybrid high resolution/standard CD-Audio disc. In a joint press release Philips and Sony stated, ""Support for SACD is growing steadily within the recording industry as an increasing number of artists, sound engineers and audio critics have recognized the potential of DSD recording technology to deliver outstanding sound with unparalleled clarity and detail."" The DVD-Audio format was not in evidence at the conference. There were, however, a few presentations of high resolution DVD-Video stereo music releases from Chesky Records and others.