MMW-47 -- Interview With Kayo Shimomura of Dolby Laboratories

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J@pan Inc Magazine Presents:
M U S I C M E D I A W A T C H
Commentary on the week's music technology news
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Issue No. 47
Wednesday, July 23, 2003
Tokyo

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CONTENTS

++ FEATURE: Interview With Kayo Shimomura of Dolby Laboratories

++ NOTEWORTHY NEWS:
** Recording Industry Continues to Issue Subpoenas
** Loudeye Expands into Wireless Music Distribution
** CD Piracy on the Rise

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++ FEATURE: Interview With Kayo Shimomura of Dolby Laboratories

Founded in 1965, San Francisco-based Dolby Laboratories is well known
throughout the music and entertainment world for its audio products
and technology. I recently had the opportunity to visit Dolby
International Services at their office in Tokyo's Ginza district and
receive impressive demonstrations of the latest Dolby surround sound
technologies. Kayo Shimomura, who is in charge of licensing for
Dolby's PC- and mobile-based products, filled us in on Dolby's
activities in Japan, recent product releases and the potential for
Dolby's surround sound and audio compression technology on mobile
devices.

MMW: What are the main functions of the Dolby Japan office?

Shimomura: Dolby International Services, Dolby痴 Japan office, is
the front line of customer support and service to all our Japanese
licensees, from consumer electronic giants to game developers. We
manage the day-to-day business relationships as well as provide
technical support. Our office has played a significant role in
introducing leading-edge Dolby technologies, such as Dolby Surround
and Dolby Digital, to the worldwide marketplace.

MMW: Who are some of your main customers in Japan?

Shimomura: Almost every Japanese company involved with home theater
and DVD products use our technology. Though we cannot disclose
specific information, the major Japanese audio consumer electronic
makers are our main customers here locally. As a technology licensing
administrator, however, we strive to serve all our customers --
regardless of size -- with the same high level of service.

MMW: Which of your audio technologies is most widely licensed in
Japan?

Shimomura: Dolby Digital, which is the world standard for multichannel
audio, is our most widely licensed technology in Japan. Dolby Digital
is used in every DVD player, including software DVD players on PCs, as
well as virtually all 5.1 multichannel home theater systems. Dolby
Digital is also becoming the multichannel standard for games and has
already been implemented on Microsoft's Xbox as well as on NVIDIA PC
motherboards that feature SoundStorm audio.

MMW: Which Dolby technologies do you think have the most potential for
use on mobile devices?

Shimomura: Dolby has a couple of technologies that are applicable for
mobile devices. First, with the limited bandwidth of cellphones, a
codec that is efficient at low bit rates is needed for downloading or
streaming audio. Though MP3 is technically capable of operating at
very low bit rates, the codec is over a decade old and does not
provide a high quality listening experience.

Dolby AAC, an enhanced version of MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 AAC that adds
proprietary Dolby intellectual property, was designed to deliver good
quality audio at extremely low bit rates and is the best sounding
codec for low bandwidth audio applications in the marketplace today.
Dolby AAC has already been introduced by American Online with new
versions of Radio@AOL and Radio@AOL for Broadband to offer an enhanced
listening experience for millions of AOL members who tune in to the
popular radio services. Dolby AAC is an ideal codec for music
distribution, ringtones and other audio applications on mobile
devices.

Dolby also has technology that is capable of delivering a surround
sound experience on a mobile device. Dolby Headphone, a
signal-processing system that enables ordinary stereo headphones to
portray the sound of a five-speaker surround playback system, can be
used in a mobile handset to provide an enhanced surround listening
experience for the playback of music, games, and other content -- all
without annoying anyone sitting besides you.

MMW: Do you have plans to incorporate Dolby's surround sound
technologies on mobile phones?

Shimomura: We see a demand from mobile phone manufacturers and service
providers for Dolby Headphone to virtualize music and game audio.

MMW: Is Dolby AAC used by any of the major carriers in Japan at
present?

Shimomura: Dolby AAC is a new technology, and we are just beginning
our licensing program. Therefore, it has not yet been adopted by any
of the major carriers in Japan. Interested parties should contact
Kayo Shimomura (KS@dolby.co.jp) at Dolby Laboratories International
Services.

MMW: Have any Japanese carriers or phone manufacturers expressed
interest in licensing Dolby AAC?

Shimomura: Yes, we have received strong interest in Dolby AAC as well
as Dolby Headphone.

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=============================================

++ NOTEWORTHY NEWS

** Recording Industry Continues to Issue Subpoenas

In brief: As of July 22, the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA) had issued 871 federal subpoenas in the month of July against
individual computer users suspected of illegal file trading. US
court officials said that around 75 new subpoenas were being approved
each day. It appears that many of the subpoenas are intended to compel
large Internet service providers to release names and mailing
addresses for some of their customers.

Source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3082119.stm

** Loudeye Expands into Wireless Music Distribution

In brief: Seattle-based Loudeye recently announced that it has signed
agreements with four wireless content providers whereby Loudeye will
offer 3- to 30-second MP3 song clips that can be downloaded and used
as ringtones for mobile phones. Initially, Loudeye will provide
content from The Orchard, whose catalog includes music from over 5,000
independent record labels.

Source:
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030710/sfth049_1.html

** CD Piracy on the Rise

In brief: A recent report published by the International Federation of
the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) estimated that 1.1 billion CDs were
sold illegally in 2002, a 14-percent increase over the previous year.
The IFPI report went on to say that the market for pirated CD copies
is now an estimated $4.6 billion business. Jay Berman, CEO of IFPI,
said that one-third of all CDs are illegal copies and that sales for
legitimate CDs are expected to drop another 5 to 8 percent in 2003.

Source:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030710/wr_nm/media
_music_piracy_dc_5

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Subscribers: 1,566 as of July 23, 2003

STAFF
Written by: Steve Myers (steve@thetamusic.com)
Steve Myers is president and chief enthusiast of Theta Music
Technologies, which specializes in the development of music-related
software applications.

Edited by J@pan Inc editors: (editors@japaninc.com)

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