Archives for September 1996

Minneapolis, MN. Navarre Corporation and Walter Yetnikoff, industry leader and former CEO of CBS Records, today announced the formation of VelVel Records.

The new independent music company will serve as a full-service umbrella company for a group of both new and established independent music labels, providing funding, marketing, promotional and creative support. The company has already signed a deal with Bottom Line Records and has acquired a non-controlling interest in Razor & Tie Records.

“VelVel is intent on bringing a wide array of music by today’s rising stars and established talent to as many consumers as possible,” said Yetnikoff. “We are going to compete on a level playing field with the major labels, with a reach only previously enjoyed by those major labels. We will show that independent labels are the future of this business.”

VelVel has already signed recording deals with Five-Eight, an alternative band from Atlanta; Band de Soleil, featuring gritty singer/songwriter Michelle Malone; Babyfat, another alternative rock act; and Prairie Oyster, a Juno Award-winning Canadian country group.

“We expect to have an immediate impact on the industry,” said VelVel’s President Bob Frank. “We’ll have great freedom to provide creative, operational and financial support to our labels, marketing and promoting some of today’s best artists.” Frank indicated the VelVel will have 15 employees by year end and is now in discussion with candidates for executive positions in marketing, media, promotions, finance and A&R.

Tokyo, Japan. Marantz has reported a 90% drop in profits for the first half of 1996. Sales were down 15%, with almost all products performing poorly. Notable weaknesses included audio equipment in Europe, satellite broadcast equipment in the US, and karaoke machines in Japan.

Marantz expects new product launches to help revenues recover somewhat in the second half. But the company is still forecasting a 7% drop in sales and a 39% drop in profit for the year ending in December.

Yonkers, NY. Voyetra Technologies is beefing up its operations in custom software development and licensing with OEM’s. This comes hard on the heels of its re-entry into the retail marketplace with Digital Orchestrator Plus, an update of its classic Sequencer Plus product, as well as two edutainment CD-ROM titles.

Voyetra has announced that manufacturers including Sony, IBM, Compaq, NEC, and Crystal Semiconductor are planning to license Voyetra software imminently, with complete details to be announced over the next six to eight weeks.

“Based on our market forecasting, ongoing development work, and new contracts — signed and being signed — we anticipate a surge in our OEM-related activities,” said Carmine J. Bonanno, Voyetra’s President and CEO. We’ve been increasing resources, such as engineers, graphic designers, support personnel and office space, at a rapid pace to capitalize on these marketing opportunities.”

Woodland Hills, CA. Spatializer™ Audio Laboratories Inc. said Friday that the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles CA has ruled in the company’s favor in a lawsuit filed by QSound™ Labs Inc. (Calgary, AB, Canada). Judge William D. Keller granted Spatializer’s motion for summary judgment of non-infringment.

“We have always been very confident that Spatializer would prevail in this lawsuit and are very pleased with the ruling,” said Steven Gershick, President and CEO of Spatializer Audio Laboratories. “With the litigation behind us, we can again focus 100 percent of our efforts on meeting the demands of leading manufacturers to license and use our 3-D audio technologies within their products.”

Spatializer intends to pursue a claim for damages resulting from QSound’s alleged interference with its business. As well, Spatializer intends to file a motion for summary judgment seeking to invalidate QSound’s patents.

“For the past 22 months, QSound’s accusations of infringement have adversely impacted our business,” contends Gershick. “Not only have certain licensees been reluctant to introduce new Spatializer equipped products, but a number of potential licensees were compelled to use competitive solutions because of the litigation.”

The ruling finds that Spatializer’s proprietary 3D audio chips and technology do not infringe QSound patents. The judge also states that Spatializer “cherry picked” the QSound invention, but that as a matter of law he would rule in their favour. In view of this, any claim for damages made by Spatializer would receive little sympathy from Judge Keller.
QSound Labs intends to appeal the judgement. The appeal will be heard by The Court of Appeals Panel in Washington DC. Hearings concerning patent validity and unfair competition will not take place until the appeal is decided.

Spatializer Audio Lab develops audio technologies for the consumer electronics, computing and entertainment industries. The company’s 3-D audio processing technology is incorporated in products made by major manufacturers including Hewlett-Packard, Texas Instruments, Seiko-Epson, Samsung, Everex, Labtec, Panasonic and Proton. It is also available as a software plug-in for the Digidesign ProTools® III system.

QSound Labs is currently marketing its technology to PC/multimedia, home entertainment and consumer electronics industries. The technology has been licensed by PC/multimedia, home entertainment and video arcade leaders Acer, Capcom, Electronic Arts, Fathom Pictures, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Microprose, Mindscape, NEC, Overtime Sports, and Sega.