radio

When we think of gadgets and crystal, the name Swarovski invariably comes to mind. (We hope this doesn't say more about us than anything else.) So it is with great pleasure that we're able to mention an adorned item that doesn't have anything to do with the dreaded House of S.

The "Tivoli Model One" radio is encased in handcrafted crystal designed by Scandanavian artist Per B. Sundberg, according to Techabob, in limited-edition form. Very limited, in fact--only 30 of them are available at ScandinavianDesign, and for good reason. They cost $4,200 each.

That'… Read more

As we reported earlier this week, many Webcasting services kept streaming without incident after feared new music royalty fees took effect, as talks with the record industry about alternative arrangements seemed to be proceeding on a favorable track.

How quickly things can change.

Now a new spat appears to be brewing between the Digital Media Association (DiMA), a lobby group representing large Webcasters like Pandora, Yahoo, RealNetworks and AOL, and SoundExchange, the group that collects and lobbied for the new payments on behalf of musicians and record labels.

The issue? Whether Webcasters should be required to cloak their streams in … Read more

Sony's taken the wraps off two more iPod-compatible home audio products: the ICF-C1iP clock radio, and the ZS-S2iP boom box. The ICF-C1iP clock radio is available in black or white and offers an adjustable backstop for accommodating various sizes of 'Pods in the built-in dock. Otherwise, it's a pretty standard feature set for the clock radio category--adjustable brightness control; AM/FM radio; wake to iPod, radio, or alarm; and wireless remote. Personally, i think the clock's digital display--along the bottom of the iPod dock--seems like it would be too easily obscured, but maybe I just have too many books on my nightstand. … Read more

We've got to hand it to Bush. (No, not that Bush, the one that makes consumer electronics.) There are tons of companies out there that are trying to recapture mid-century chic, but the U.K. company has done the job exceptionally well, which is a good thing because the radio is such an important icon for that generation.

Its latest creation may be the ultimate combination of old and new in the genre. The unfortunately named TR04DABBLK may look like something from Happy Days at first glance with its piano-black finish, according to GeekAlerts, but closer inspection will find … Read more

July 15, the start date for new and retroactive royalty payments by Internet radio DJs, has come and gone without any apparent catastrophe, thanks in part to last-minute signs that Webcasters may be edging closer to harmony with the music industry.

The consensus among the small and larger Webcasters I've been surveying Monday seems to be that nothing much has changed in their operations--for now, at least. Further unscientific checking of Internet radio streams available at individual Web sites and through Apple's iTunes drove me to a similar conclusion: from NorCal hip-hop to office-friendly Top 40 to Christian … Read more

The latest on the Internet radio saga bears some positive news for people who like to stream music from public radio's online presence.

Recall that starting on Sunday, new federal rules requiring higher royalty payments to the music industry from Webcasters--commercial and non-commercial alike--are scheduled to take effect. In recent days, Internet radio outlets have been stepping up negotiations with SoundExchange, the nonprofit entity charged with collecting the fees, over compromises aimed at blunting the increases' impact.

Now public radio says it has reached at least a temporary agreement with the record industry.

Thanks to a "productive" … Read more

Looks like there's been a truce in the fight over Net radio.

After threatening to impose per-song performance royalties on Net radio stations, which could have increased costs for some Net broadcasters by hundreds of millions of dollars, royalty collection agency SoundExchange offered to delay the new royalty payments until 2008.

Savenetradio.org, a coalition representing Internet radio broadcasters, rejected that previous offer, saying that the threat of drastically increased fees in 2008 was little better than the July 15 deadline, as it would staunch any investment into Net radio. An eleventh-hour court appeal failed, and it looked like … Read more

This Sunday may not be doomsday after all for the smaller Internet radio stations that feared the onset of new royalty fees would kill off their operations.

But contrary to some published reports traversing the blogosphere on Thursday and Friday, SoundExchange, the nonprofit group charged with collecting the payments, has not made any sort of blanket pledge to delay enforcing the contentious new Webcaster payments established earlier this year by the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board, according to spokesman Richard Ades.

"There is a misunderstanding, and SoundExchange is making it very clear that everybody is expected to comply with the law," Ades told CNET News.com Friday.

The CRB ruling at issue requires Internet radio operators to pay additional fees to SoundExchange, which passes them on to artists and record labels, retroactive to 2006 and through 2010. Webcasters opposed to the new rules say the changes could drive up their mandatory payments by as much as 300 percent for larger entities and 1,200 percent for smaller ones, arguing such increases could put them out of business.

Here's where it gets complicated.

… Read more

A federal appeals court has declined to grant a petition by Webcasters to delay the onset of new royalty fees that they argue could imperil their offerings.

In a one-page order filed late Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said the opponents of the fees "have not satisfied the stringent standards required for a stay pending court review" and rejected their request for an emergency stay.

Barring an 11th-hour agreement, then, between Internet radio operators and the music industry, the new fees are scheduled to kick in on Sunday.

Jonathan Potter, executive … Read more