“Music 2.0” File Format Offers Multi-Channel Alternative To MP3s

A new file format that offers separate volume controls for each musical instrument, such as guitar, drum, base and voice, is being considered as a new Internet standard.

The new .MT9 file format, which a commercial title of “Music 2.0”, was selected as a candidate for consideration at a regular meeting of Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG), the international body of the digital music and video industry, held in France late April.

“We made presentations to the participants and they were all surprised to see it. They immediately voted to make it a candidate for the digital music standard,” said Ham Seung-chul, chief of Audizen, the company behind the format.

Ham says that the music industry should change its attitude to the market as music is becoming a digital service, rather than a physical product.

One other feature that could be popular is the lack of DRM on .MT9 files.

“It’s like having a CD or cassette tape. Once you buy it, you can lend it to your friends. We don’t want to be too fussy about DRM (digital right management),” he said.

The idea behind .MT9 is cool – and I could see it being very useful for remixers and DJs.

If you know anything more about .MT9 “Music 2.0” files, let me know in the comments.

5 thoughts on ““Music 2.0” File Format Offers Multi-Channel Alternative To MP3s

  1. hmmm no so sure about that MT9 format… first, a complete song takes hours to master, setting every volume right, now ppl just gonna mess it up… also, about that remixing opportunity, separate tracks are available for most songs, you simply need to search and ask… if everyone starts remixing everything, like they do with ugly mashups, we’ll be flooded by all sorts of crap and mainstream music will become worst than it is already…

  2. MisterCharlie – we’re already flooded by all sorts of crap. How’s giving people a more flexible file format going to change that?

  3. This seems as though it would be more flexible for providing somewhat of a modifiable file for semi-mixdown (if that term even exists) music production. I don’t know about it being used as a final product though, but for something to send to maybe a producer to see if anything needs to be tweaked to get an idea of what the final product should be it seems like a nice solution. Or you could send the file to someone to sample some possible changes to a song in-the-works. It surely has potential, especially without all that DRM crap. 🙂

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