Napster Back Online Pending Trial
Napster, the online, file-swapping software company, was granted a last-minute reprieve from an earlier U.S. District Court decision that issued a temporary injunction against the company. The federal appeals court, San Francisco, postponed a judge’s order to discontinue all Napster services.

According to Shawn Fanning, who founded Napster as a 19-year-old college student, the company will continue to serve its customers until a final decision is made. “I am happy and grateful that we do not have to turn away our 20 million users and that we can continue to help artists,” he says. “We’ll keep working and hoping for the best.”

The three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued the stay against an injunction, issued by District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel, that would have shut down Napster pending the outcome of a trial. The appeals’ judges said “substantial questions” were raised about “the merits and form of the injunction.”

The court decision continues the debate between the Silicon Valley upstart and the recording industry as it moves forward to a fall trial; no trial date has been set. The RIAA could still appeal the decision to the full Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals or the U.S. Supreme Court.

TEC Awards Near Sellout
A limited number of seats are still available for the 16th Annual Technical Excellence & Creativity Awards, to be held Saturday, September 23, at the Regal Biltmore in Los Angeles. Hosted by the popular comedian Godfrey, the evening’s festivities will include the induction of Sun Records founder Sam Phillips into the Hall of Fame and Paul McCartney receiving the Les Paul Award.

For ticket information, call Karen Dunn at 925/939-6149 or visit the TEC Awards at www.tecawards.org.

AES Party News
The Autry Museum of Western Heritage, L.A., will host the 109th AES Convention party Friday, September 22, from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. The evening will provide musical entertainment, food and cocktails in an Old West setting.

Guests are invited to take advantage of an exclusive viewing of the museum’s galleries. Tickets purchased in advanced are $45 a person; $50 at the AES Special Events Desk in the L.A. Convention Center.

For more information, visit www.aes.org.

GML Products Online
George Massenburg Labs announced that its entire product line is available for direct purchase on the Web, at www.massenburg.com.

Massenburg says, “We’ve cut our costs to the bone, and through the Internet are now able to make GML products affordable for those who need quality audio.”

According to Audio Intervisual Design principal Jim Pace—the GML distributor since 1997—the decision was based on a need to address a wider user base. “George has a significant presence online and has developed an extensive dialog with many people around the world.” As a result of this decision, A.I.D. will no longer sell to dealers directly; product purchases will be handled by the factory through the Web site. However, A.I.D. will continue to handle GML products in Southern California.

Mixer Management
Nettwork Management announced the start of a producer-management division headed by Alia Fahlborg. This divison will represent producers, mixers, remixers, engineers and arrangers and allow them to take full use of the in-house staff at Nettwork America.

According to Fahlborg, Nettwork oversees numerous companies and wanted to start a management company dedicated to recording industry talent. “There are lots of people working on projects, and this allows us to go in-house for another source of talent to draw from,” Fahlborg says. “It will be as full-service as possible.”

The roster of participating producers includes Howard Benson, Carlos Bess, Paul Logus, Peter Zizzo, Rhys Fulber and remixers Groove Armada.

For more information, contact Monica Seide at 310/855-0643.

Shure Turns 75
In the middle of a yearlong 75th anniversary celebration, Shure, microphone and audio electronics manufacturer, hosted the Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland. The event featured the presentation of a Shure 75th Anniversary Boxed Set, an honorary award, to B.B. King; both Shure and B.B. King celebrated their 75th birthday this year.

According to organizer Jack Kontney, everything went exceedingly well. “B.B. King has one of the best bands I’ve ever seen,” he said. “I knew it was gonna be great. B.B. did a really long set. In addition to his regular set, there was a full set of a blues jam.”

The night also featured performances from Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown and Shemekia Copeland.

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Reprinted with permission from Magazine, August, 2000
© 2000, Intertec Publishing, A Primedia Company All Rights Reserved