The developers of the ubiquitous MP3 format wish to replace it with a new format called MusicDNA. The new format was recently demoed at the Midem industry conference in Cannes by BACH Technology.
The MP3 format changed the face of the music industry by delivering what was the need of the hour during the 90's: an audio compression technology tailored to slow internet connections and small hard drives of the day.
It is still going strong in an era when Internet connections are much faster and storage abundant. But thanks to the MP3 format (and the internet), the music industry now has rampant digital piracy to contend with. It is becoming increasingly difficult for them to convince people to pay for music.
MP3's successor is aimed at tackling piracy, the one issue relevant to this era. Its developers hope that the MusicDNA format will be able to boost music sales by giving consumers more bang for their buck. Apart from music, each MusicDNA file will contain bonus content that will be updated from time to time. Extras include lyrics, blog posts, videos and artwork besides other updates and information. It will be compatible with any MP3 player.
BACH Technology is not the first company to have taken this approach. Apple's iTunes LP also accomplishes much the same thing by packaging music and related multimedia content in one file.
