Changing The Genetics of Downloads: MusicDNA

I write to you this morning after my morning commute, spent majoritively immersed in my “New & Notable” playlist on Spotify for iPhone. I am a recent convert to the paid service, how long I stick with it is yet to be seen, for two reasons. Reason 1: Wednesday’s iTunes announcement, Reason2: MusicDNA – possibly…

Yesterday at the Midem Music conference in Cannes Bach Technology announced their latest development: MusicDNA. Billed as the most significant development in digital music since the invention of the MP3, Bach’s Chief Exec Stefan Kohlmeyer hopes the new format will become the MP3s successor.

The new format bundles together the traditional music file with data such as an Artist’s twitter URL, music videos, blog links and YouTube Channels, as well as artwork and lyrics – seemingly a slight evoltion of the Apple iTunes LP format launched last year. In an interview with paidcontent:UK Kohlmeyer said:

“We bundle all the audio data and business intelligence in one file. The data can be automatically updated whenever you are online.”

The idea of this content being able to self-evolve is an interesting one, and if it can be executed seemlessly, without creating enough data-fat to sink the Titanic then it could be an interesting proposition. However is this all just a little too late? When you consider that we have had MySpace for the better part of a decade, and the cult of celebrity twitter stalking taking up much of the red-top gossip pages, it seems we have been getting on OK in hunting down the content-around-the-content for ourselves.

Asking around, I know very few people who have been avidly downloading iTunes LP files, and even lesser major record labels committing to the format in any big way. As always the success of the idea will be in the execution, if MusicDNA is to truly shift the genetics of downloading then the cost, size and adoption by the major manufacturers will allow it to sink or swim, if these ingredients don’t add up, it’ll be just another backwater mutant format. The neutered ninja turtle of the digital age.