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  • Never Let Me Down [ECD]

    • 4 out of 10
    • David Bowie
    • It must be a lonely place to be considered David Bowie's worst album by just about everyone, including the artist himself. As the last album before Bowie "rebooted" and formed the band Tin Machine, "N
  • An Evening with George Shearing & Mel Torm�

    • 10 out of 10
    • Mel Torm� & George Shearing
    • Of the three men who taught me how to sing, the last was Mel Torme. Apparently, Mel Torme is a joke to anyone more than a decade older than me, a living parody of a Vegas crooner. But I stumbled on th
  • Aretha Sings the Blues

    • 6 out of 10
    • Aretha Franklin
    • While she didn't always have the best taste in song selection, Aretha Franklin is a must-study for anyone with interest in the human voice. She has the kind of powerful, recklessly passionate deliv

  • The Stooges

    • 8 out of 10
    • The Stooges
    • Another pillar of my musical foundations, The Stooges' first album is one those records whose influence far outweighed its popularity. Like The Velvet Underground & Nico, hordes of people wh

  • One Word Extinguisher

    • 8 out of 10
    • Prefuse 73
    • It's an album about a breakup, done with beats instead of mopey lyrics. But the beats are raw, and the emotions are there, even if there aren't many words on top of it. While possibly not Scott Herren

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Paramount, Dreamworks Sold Out for HD DVD

Paramount and Dreamworks both announced on Monday that they were throwing their weight behind HD DVD movie discs instead of Blu-ray. The endorsement, however, may be more about money than supporting what they see as better standard, according to the New York Times.

Viacom executives that wanted to remain anonymous claimed that Paramount and Dreamworks Animation will receive about US$150 million in incentives for backing HD DVD. Those incentives will include cash and promotional guarantees.

Paramount president of worldwide marketing and distribution, Rob Moore, said the decision to go exclusively with HD DVD was in consumer’s best interest. "What is most important to consumers is how much they are paying, and HD DVD is simply less expensive," he said.

Andy Parsons from the Blu-ray Disc Association had a different take. "This seems like a move of desperation," he said. Toshiba and the other companies that are backing the HD DVD standard don’t want to suffer the same fate as Betamax did when VHS became the standard for video tape movies.

Many in the industry considered the battle for the next DVD standard to be over, and declared Blu-ray the winner. 20th Century Fox, for example, is in the process of releasing another 29 Blu-ray titles, and Disney is releasing Sleeping Beauty on Blue-ray, too.

Blockbuster offers Blu-ray titles, but doesn’t offer HD DVD. Target isn’t selling HD DVD players, only standard DVD and Blu-ray.

In the end, the Paramount HD DVD endorsement may be short-lived. Paramount’s deal lasts only 18 months, and does not include any films directed by Steven Spielberg.

Although Paramount claims its move is in the best interest of consumers, it may do more to confuse buyers. If consumers feel that the HD movie disc standard is still undecided, they are more likely to stay away from both.

Bob Chapek, president of Disney’s home entertainment unit, commented "This is not in the best interest of consumers."

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