Delegates at music business conference MIDEM in France have witnessed the unveiling of a new digital file format, created by some of the names behind the development of the original MP3 format.
MusicDNA, described by the BBC as a ‘deluxe’ file format, will incorporate lyrics, videos and artwork. Files will also incorporate blog-posts which will be continually updated, along with the music itself, via the open MPEG-7 format.
Norwegian developer, Dagfinn Bach, who worked on the original MP3 player 16 years ago, has created the new format with some of its initial investment coming from Karlheinz Brandenburg, the German researcher widely credited with inventing the revolutionary MP3 file format.
Each MusicDNA file can hold up to 32GB of additional information, is fully searchable and dynamically updated whenever users go online.
Major labels have yet to come on board, although the UK based Beggars Group, which represents several leading indie labels and artists has signed up to trial the service, as has the Tommy Boy label from the USA.
Apple has already made inroads into this market by bundling artwork, videos and other content into LPs available from its iTunes store. Nevertheless, the digital music giant will doubtless be watching MusicDNA closely as the first releases hit the market.
MusicDNA is scheduled to move into beta this spring, followed by a major roll-out towards the end of summer 2010.
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