TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Metadata for Audio: AES Conference, London, 17-19 June 2004 - Register now.
2. May AES Journal now available online

Metadata For Audio
The Audio Engineering Society is holding its 25th International Conference this month in London. We are addressing what we see as a critically important subject: metadata for audio.

As the means for production and distribution of digital audio proliferate, appropriate metadata tools are needed to facilitate, control, and extend these activities. There has been a great deal of activity in individual organizations to develop metadata tools. However, substantial issues remain to be addressed before the desired goal of global exchange and common understanding can be reached. International standardization, such as the work of MPEG7 and MPEG21 may hold some important answers.

This conference seeks to describe the state of the art, identify the issues, and indicate directions for the development of advanced metadata systems, both for consumer distribution and business-to-business. It will bring together media publishers and software designers, media librarians and archivists, database managers and streaming engineers whose operations are increasingly dependent on the success of sophisticated metadata systems and anyone working in audio who needs to get a better understanding of the subject.

Thursday 17 June is a tutorial day, for which it is possible to book separately. The tutorial sessions and workshop will provide an introduction to the key concepts in metadata, and an overview of current schemes. The 31 papers in the main conference discuss all aspects of metadata. There will be plenty of time for discussion and networking. There is also an optional banquet at the Houses of Parliament.

It looks like this will be an excellent conference and we hope to see you there. For further information, or to register, see www.aes.org/events/25.

or contact Heather Lane via e-mail or on +44 1628 663725.

May AES Journal Is Now Available Online Here
The issue includes:
* Papers on line array loudspeakers and nonuniform convolution
* Engineering reports on reverberation time by wavelet transform and inharmonic wavetable synthesis
* Feature article on wavefield synthesis
* AES Standards Committee News
* Obituaries of A. J. May and Ulf Rosenberg
* News of the Sections, New Products, etc.