Sven Franklyn Weil wrote:
Muzak also delivers some of their formats in disk form. Don't know if they're
standard CDs or MP-3 disks. But knowing Muzak it's probably MP-3
disks...there's a note on the disks that say something to the effect of "for
use only on Muzak equipment." I saw a couple of them lying around on the
counter of a Popeye's Fried Chicken store once.

TSC in the UK provide 8-hour long CDs for use in shops and fast food
counters, etc. They're in mono IMA ADPCM (4:1) format, and are played
on a custom CD player.

--
Now playing: 04 - Suede - Lost in TV [197kbps Joint Stereo]

"Nick J." wrote in
:

Sven Franklyn Weil wrote:
Muzak also delivers some of their formats in disk form. Don't know
if they're standard CDs or MP-3 disks. But knowing Muzak it's
probably MP-3 disks...there's a note on the disks that say something
to the effect of "for use only on Muzak equipment." I saw a couple
of them lying around on the counter of a Popeye's Fried Chicken store
once.

TSC in the UK provide 8-hour long CDs for use in shops and fast food
counters, etc. They're in mono IMA ADPCM (4:1) format, and are played
on a custom CD player.


Muzak in the US provides similarly long CDs (which, as best as I've been
able to determine, are *not* in MP3 format), also requiring a custom CD
player.

As recently as 1999-2000 or so Muzak was providing their proprietary CD's
and players to retail outlets such as Spencer's (which is where I was
familiar with the equipment--we had to put in that month's Muzak CD in,
it'd play for around 6-8 hours, mostly dance and novelty "Weird Al" type
stuff).

I had always wondered, as had other employees, specifically what format the
CDs were in (apparently employees had actually attempted to sneak them home
to play, without success--the tracking was off, as I recall; never had
access to a CD diagnostics util, and it'd probably have been impossible
without one of the proprietary Muzak players anyways). I'm not even sure
they were standard Red Book CD's at all, to be honest...

I'd expect the Muzak systems were similar if not identical, and I'd be
surprised if the Muzak "CD" systems weren't still in place in a lot of
places where you couldn't have a ton of satellite systems up (for example,
malls with many retail stores)...

-Neko-chan :3

"DAB sounds worse than FM" wrote
in message ...
David Eduardo wrote:
html

"People are flocking from radio in droves," says Michael Bracy, director
of
government relations at the lobby group the Future of Music Coalition. "So
many people have become disenfranchised that they simply don't listen
anymore. Smaller local artists are being freezed out by centralised
programming. It's very damaging to the culture. There is a climate of fear
surrounding Clear Channel. People will say in private, 'They did this or
they did that,' but they won't speak out because they have to do business
with them.

Another quote from the clueless. Radio is listened to by 95% of the US
population over 12. This is the same as historic figures.

Average listening per person is around 21 hours per week, the same as it was
in the 1950-1952 period.

The "Music Coalition" is simply upset because radio figured out that most
people don't want to hear unknown songs by unknown artists. That was the
basis for the Top 40 format, going back to the early 50's. Nothing new,
nothing unusual.

The bad publicity has made Clear Channel a political pariah. While other
parts of the media industry are enjoying the relaxation of ownership laws,
in radio, they were tightened up last week, despite the company hiring
well-connected Washington lobbyists and appointing a former US congressman
to the board."

They were not tightened. All that happened in the recent Philadelphia
decision was that the most recent (2003) deregulation steps were put on
hold; the 1996 deregulation is very much intact.

and

"According to the US ratings service Arbitron, Americans are spending 10%
less time listening to radio per annum. Radio listenership in the US is at
a
27-year low."

Not so. Radio listening today is lower than the late 80's peak, but very
much compatible with levels from the 50's, 60's and 70's. Radio circultation
is not falling at all. Time spent listening is off about 15% since 1988, or
about 0.5% annually. Arbitron has never issued a statement even remotely
similar to the "10% a year" claim because this is not true.

and

"It's creative death, it's standardisation - McDonaldisation. Creativity
requires diversity. If you introduce free markets without regulation, you
are prescribing monopoly. The only upside to all of this is that it gets
so
bad that things start to develop underground on the internet or satellite
radio. That's what happened with the Floyd."

Interestingly, people who have studied playlists nationally don't see any
more standardization than in the 50's.

and from http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/st...943068,00.html

"Mr Dyke [Director General of the BBC] directed much of his ammunition
against the global media giant Clear Channel, which owns 1,225 radio
stations in the US, many of which took a staunchly pro-war line.

Actually, only some talk hosts on the Clear Channel talk stations took such
a line. The company took no position. Talk hosts on other, non Clear Channel
stations, took similar positions.

"We are genuinely shocked when we discover that the largest radio group in
the United States was using its airwaves to organise pro-war rallies,"
said
Mr Dyke, who is also the BBC's editor-in-chief. "We are even more shocked
to
discover that the same group wants to become a big radio player in the
UK."

There is a reason why we broke away form the Brits. They don't always get
it.

Clear Channel held no rallies. One of the talk hosts syndicated on many
Clear Channel talk stations held such rallies... in maybe 10 cities.