MusicDNA, a new music file format, launched this week. It seeks to combine music with additional features (eg. lyrics, blog posts, artwork, searchability etc) in one single file format. The motivation, it seems, is to enrich the user experience and drive consumers to paid downloads rather than down illegal routes.

On the face of it this sounds great, but you know that I’m a cynic. A few things spring to mind, so I’m jotting them down here.

1. When CDs were en vogue I didn’t read the lyrics in the insert, look at the artwork, buy magazines to read people’s opinion of the band etc. The MusicDNA proposition doesn’t offer me anything that warrants the fuss of changing my entire collection to the new format.
2. The BBC article here quite rightly points out that the iTunes LP format is already a contender in this field. Coupled with the fact that MusicDNA does not [yet] have any buy in from major record labels I would wonder whether the format would have any real commercial success. That said, it is an open format, which has to be a good thing.
3. Illegal file sharers will do so whether the file is in an MP3 or a MusicDNA format. People just don’t want to pay for things.